Emerald Mirage
by Saberpilot
Summary: Accused of something she didn't do, Buttercup runs away. She returns years later, but can she confront the past? (COMPLETE! :D)
1. Flying Away

Hey there y'all! First a few announcements:  
(ahem) Number 1: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls. Really.   
Number 2: This is my first Powerpuff Girls Ficcy, please be nice & review! Please!  
(cough) And finally, Number 3: Please Enjoy!  
  
Emerald Mirage...   
  
  
A small girl named Buttercup stared out the window, her body turned to ignore her two sisters as   
they played with their new toys. Normally, the black-haired girl would have joined right in, but today..   
  
She sighed. Today, she just didn't feel in the mood. She felt like a good fight, one that she hadn't   
had in a while. Buttercup almost wished that Mojo would try something right now. Something big,   
like the time he'd robbed the museum of the anubis jewels. Now that had been a fight.  
  
"And Mr. Kitty, what would you like to drink?" Bubbles handed a tea cup to a stuffed animal sitting in a circle. The young blonde smiled with the pleasure of her playtime treat.   
  
"Bubbles, for the last time, those animals don't talk! They're just stuffed toys!" interjected Blossom, her eyes slanted with a look of frustration. Bubbles shrank away from the redhead, her eyes brimming with tears.   
  
"But.. But.." The tears started to form rapidly, dangerously close to streaming down her face. She closed her eyes and started to wail.   
  
"WAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her mouth opened wide, tears falling everywhere around her. Bubbles put her face into her hands, upset at her sister. Buttercup sighed with frustration as the Professor entered the room, his face tightened with worry.   
  
"Bubbles? Are you OK?" He gently picked up Bubbles, who by this time was lying face down on her bed, venting her pain with her tears. She turned her head towards the man, eyes still filled with tears. The Professor smiled at her, his eyes kind and understanding.   
  
"Now Bubbles, calm down. Tell me what happened," he cooed to her. Bubbles wiped her eyes with a hand then started her tale:  
  
"I was playing all nice with Mr. Kitty and all my friends, Mr. Popo and Miss Giraffe, and we were having a tea party. Buttercup was looking out the window bein' grumpy-"  
  
"I AM NOT GRUMPY!" Buttercup crossed her arms, a sour expression on her face.   
  
The Professor looked at his green-eyed daughter. "Now Buttercup, let Bubbles continue with her story," he said, his eyes narrowing with growing agitation.  
  
"Fine, fine," Buttercup said, turning her head back towards the window.   
  
"Continue, Bubbles," said the Professor, his patience running out by the minute from all the interruptions.  
  
The young blonde turned her head towards him, and spoke, "Well, right after all that, I gave Mr. Kitty some tea. Then.. Then," she sniffled, "Blossom told me that the stuffed animals couldn't talk, and then I got upset, and cried. Then you came in and asked me if I was OK and-"  
  
"OK, OK. I think I get the picture now. Blossom," the Professor looked over towards the redhead, who was trying to sneak out of the room unnoticed. The girl turned and gave the professor that 'I'm the perfect one' look that usually would melt his heart and turn it to jelly. But not today.   
  
"Blossom!" his voice raised a bit, and she cast her large pink eyes downward. The professor smiled despite his best efforts. Blossom knew exactly the things that could make him crumble apart.   
  
"Blossom, it wasn't very nice to tell your sister that. She was just having fun, and there's no harm in that. I believe sometimes you pretend Dr.Dee Dee talks, don't you?" he gestured towards the doll, that was lying near the windowsill that Buttercup was perched on. Blossom sighed and nodded her head.   
  
"You see girls, imagination is key to our survival. If we didn't have it, we would be bored..." He trailed off as he saw Bubbles shake her head in confusion. "Now Blossom," he advised her, "Please apologize to your sister."  
  
The ruby-headed girl did just that, then flew up and looked at the clock.   
  
"Oh my gosh, professor! It's bed time! Hurry up girls!" she screamed, then snatched out her jammies and changed quickly. Bubbles soon followed suit.  
  
Buttercup sighed as she watched her two sisters change and hurry to brush their teeth. Another day gone by, another problem solved by the Professor. Another boring day. No monsters to fight, no battles to win.  
  
She slowly flew over towards the bathroom and brushed her teeth, then slipped into her nightgown. Grabbing her stuffed alligator, Buttercup hustled into bed, her black hair rustling against the pillows as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
The Professor came in, his eyes surveying all his girls in their bed, giving each one a gentle kiss on the forehead, then exiting the girl's room.   
  
Bubbles was halfway there already, her arms cuddling her stuffed octipus as if it were a teddy bear. Her eyelids were closed peacefully.   
  
The red-headed girl named Blossom was already asleep hugging her pillow, as her latest phase found her to be anti-stuffed animals, most probably the cause of her outburst today.   
  
But tonight, sleep did not come easy to Buttercup. Her large green eyes stared up at the skylight within their bedroom, and she lay thinking. She usually was the one to get into all sorts of trouble, not Blossom.   
  
Buttercup sighed. Things never seemed to go away. Even if it had been being yelled at, she wouldn't have minded the Professor's attention. She just couldn't seem to do anything right. Her basic individual traits seemed only to be fighting and grouchiness, things that were best left ignored. No one ever paid attention. No one ever showered Buttercup with kisses for a scratch.   
  
"That's my tough sister," she remembered Bubbles proudly saying to the crowd watching them all fight a recent monster. Buttercup had been hurt badly, scraping both her knees and elbows raw. "She never cries..."  
  
Alone and awake, Buttercup felt a wetness creep down her cheek. She silently brushed it away. She couldn't help loving to fight. It was the only way to release all of her emotions, all of her fear and anger and hatred. Plus, it was fun. And as for being grumpy..  
  
She grimaced. It kept people away. Mean people. People that would make fun of her, not understand   
her. People like Blossom. Bubbles was good as a sister, but Blossom would just keep on edging into   
her, like a sword. Bossing her around as if Buttercup didn't know what she was doing.   
  
Maybe tomorrow will be better, she thought as she closed her eyes in silent resignation. I can't wait for tomorrow. The raven-haired girl's breathing slowed as she fell asleep.  
  
The night passed by seemingly in a single moment, feeling as if when had just fallen asleep, there came the morning son, ready to awaken.   
  
"Oh girls.." The yell came from down the stairs, and three sets of eyes fluttered open, a set of pink, green, then blue.   
  
"Coming Professor!" The trio lept out of their beds, speedily dressing, zipping through the hallways of their home with speeds that rivaled the barrier of sound. Just as the Professor went to sit down, three tiny bodies hugged his.   
  
"Girls! Good morning!" he said, his eyes scanning to see three pairs of large eyes looking up at him. A green and a pink pair were peering from his left pant leg, a pair of blue eyes gleaming from his right. The girls grinned at him, their smiles showing just how much they loved their professor.  
  
The young girls scurried onto their chairs around the breakfast table, then laid out an assortment of foods to eat, not forgetting to say their prayers before eating. They scarfed down the food as quick as a wink, then shot out of the room, three lights of pink, blue, and green that rushed upstairs to grab their toys to take to school today.  
  
"Ah-hem."  
  
The professor's quick reminder was picked up by the three girls, who quickly flew downstairs to give their father a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. As they flew out the front door, the professor was heard to be mumbling-  
  
"My perfect little angels."  
  
Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup rushed towards Pokey Oaks Elementary, three identical sparks of light rushing behind them. Finally, they entered the door and quietly put their small backpacks onto a row of colored hooks perpendicular to their seats.  
  
"Good Morning Students," said an overly cheery Miss Keane. Her complexion seemed a bit pale, but otherwise she was fine. "I want you all to turn to the third page in your workbooks, and please continue doing what we did yesterday with addition."  
  
Miss Keane looked stressed out and overwrought, and she sat at her desk, her perky smile marred by the wrinkles of worry outlining the corners of her eyes. Most of the students in the class didn't notice, but continued to work in their workbooks. However, Miss Keane's stressed state did not get by three very large sets of eyes.  
  
"What's wrong with Miss Keane?" wondered Bubbles, who started to color in her workbook instead of adding 2 and 2.   
  
"I don't know, Bubbles. I hope she doesn't have a cold," quietly suggested Blossom, who had already finished the workbook problems. The pink-eyed child watched closely as the teacher seemed to be so tired that she could barely open her eyes.   
  
"Hmmph. She looks OK to me," said Buttercup quietly, noticing herself the signs of strain that Miss Keane was showing. "Maybe she just needs some rest," she muttered to herself. With that resolve, the young Powerpuff girl flew up out of her seat and went up to Miss Keane's desk.   
  
The young kindergarten teacher looked down at the girl, whose face showed a great deal of concern, despite her being the 'tough' one of her sisters. She smiled in appreciation of the small girl's worry.   
  
"Yes, Buttercup?" Miss Keane asked the young child, who seemed unsure of herself, turning around to glance at her sisters. The blue and pink clad girls nodded, seemingly reassuring their sister.  
  
There has got to be some sort of telepathic link between those three, thought the young teacher, as Buttercup turned around once again to face Miss Keane. Her eyes seemed mournful and almost sad.  
  
"Miss Keane, are you feeling OK? Do you need to go home early?"   
  
A smile broke out onto the teachers' face. "No, thank you, although I could use a little help getting up to check on the other children," she suggested to the girl, who silently nodded and took Miss Keane's hand in her own, helping her teacher up out of her seat.   
  
Just when Mrs. Keane had gotten up, a paled look came upon her face. Her blue eyes faded to a deep grey, and she fell. Hard.   
  
"MISS KEANE!" Blossom flew straight over to the figure of the fallen teacher, whose features seemed white with exhaustion. Blossom gave Buttercup a scathing glance.   
  
"Buttercup, what did you do to her?"  
  
Buttercup nearly face vaulted at the accusation. "I didn't do anything, Smarty Pants!"  
  
"You must've! Look!" Blossom pointed towards Miss Keane, whose form had taken an aged appearance from her fraility. The teacher laid across the floor, and the rest of the students crowded around the young teacher,her breathing coming slow and unnatural.   
  
"NO WAY!" Buttercup grabbed Blossom by the throat of her jumper, and was ready to punch her, when Miss Keane spoke.  
  
"Children, get a doctor."   
  
"I've got it!" Bubbles cried, and grabbed the reciever of the Powerpuff hotline. "MAYOR!!"   
  
A voice echoed on the other side. "Ye-Yes? Bubbles, is that you? What's the matter?"  
  
"Well, Miss Keane's fallen down and she's sick and needs a doctor. Could you send one, mayor?"  
  
"What? Miss Keane is sick? I'll send a doctor right away- Miss Bellum, what's a doctor?" Bubbles hung up as she heard the two argue in the background. Grownups. She'd never understand them.   
  
Miss Keane had passed out, her breathing being low and steady. Blossom paced the air, rushing to the windows every five seconds to check on the doctor. The rest of the kids crowded around the teacher, anxious for her. Buttercup never strayed from Miss Keane's side.  
  
"Miss Keane? I- I didn't mean for you to fall," she whimpered. The young girl took the teacher's hand in hers. "I only wanted to help, honest." A tear streamed down her young face.   
  
After what seemed ages, Dr. Well entered the small schoolhouse, the Mayor and Miss Bellum at his heels. The good doctor set to his work, then smiled at the young children surrounding her.   
  
"It'll be all right. Miss Keane's only got a bad case of the flu." The kids rejoiced at the news of their teacher. He faced the mayor. "Why she came into work today is beyond me. She should've stayed home."   
  
Mayor puzzled over this for a minute, his face frozen in thought.   
  
"Mayor. Mayor." Miss Bellum tried to get his attention.   
  
"Uh- yes, Miss Bellum?"  
  
"Perhaps she needed the money. School teachers don't get paid very much, after all. Maybe you should increase their salary," she pointedly suggested. Miss Keane was being taken into an ambulence headed for Townsville hospital. "We don't need teachers coming in sick just because they can't afford the bills."  
  
"I suppose you're right Miss Bellum. Oh well." He faced the students with a bright smile. "School is canceled until Miss Keane is better! Off ya go now-" he was nearly run over by all the students running out of the building.   
  
Three, however, remained. "Girls, you should go home, too," suggested Miss Bellum. "Today's been a rough day on us all."  
  
The trio flew out the hole in the ceiling that they'd created, and headed home, Buttercup looking depressed and dejected the whole way. Finally, they were in the arms of their loving professor.   
  
"I heard," he said as he hugged all three. "Miss Keane will be fine. That was quick thinking on your part-" then he noticed Buttercup's tears. "It'll be OK, Buttercup," he said in an awed voice. His little tough girl was weeping her eyes out.   
  
"No it won't." She bawled, her jumper getting soaked from her tears. "I was helping her up and she fell. I must've done something."  
  
"That's right you did-" jumped in Blossom. "I saw you. You must've used your heat vision on Miss Keane, didn't you? That's why she had such a fever."   
  
Buttercup escaped from the professor's arms. "I did no such thing! Blossom is making it up, Professor."  
  
The professor stood quietly for a second, then he asked softly, "Did you use your heat vision, Buttercup?"   
  
Buttercup hovered in complete silence, her mouth as far open as she could get it. "I didn't do anything! She fell when I was trying to help her up! Nothing! I didn't do anything! Blossom's just making it up! Why do you believe her?"  
  
Professor Utonium stood his ground. "Young lady, I am not saying you did it. But Blossom here says you did, and I know she never lies. Now what happened?" His voice was controlled and calm, but his eyes were like fury.   
  
Green eyes stared back at him in disbelief. "You believe her. You actually believe her." Buttercup's face could not be read. "I didn't do it! Professor, I didn't do anything!" She bawled, her eyes growing red.   
  
Bubbles intervened. "She didn't do anything Professor, honest-"  
  
"How am I supposed to believe you, Buttercup? This is exactly the kind of thing that you would pull. Now go to your room and don't come back until I hear the answer I want to hear."   
  
Buttercup's eyes overflowed with tears. "I didn't do it- I'm so sick of Blossom always getting her way! If you need me, I'll be in my room!" With that, the young girl flew like a lightning bolt into the hallway, and slammed the door in their room.   
  
The Professor glanced back at his two girls. "I'm sorry about that, girls. Thank you, Blossom, for telling me about this. I don't know what I'm going to do with her some days.." He shrank down into a chair, looking older than he was. He suddenly jolted up out of his seat. "Miss Keane! I wonder how she is.. I'd better call the hospital.."  
  
As Pr. Utonium ran into the hallway to look for a phone, Bubbles eyed up her sister, who grinned with a sort of smug charm.   
  
"Blossom! That was a lie and you know it! Buttercup didn't do anything of the sort!" She crossed her arms, angry and hurt by her sister's actions.   
  
Blossom's smile lengthened. Her pink eyes took on a slightly evil look as she eyed up her sister. Open blue eyes stared right back at her, grinding into her sister's face. Blossom then said, "It's not like she didn't deserve it. I'm Miss Keane's favorite- not Buttercup. She shouldn't have tried to help her." With that, Blossom flew out of the room, leaving her sister speechless for words..   
  
'Poor Buttercup..'  
  
The raven-haired child was alone in the girls' room, her face showing strong resolution. Buttercup wiped the tears from her eyes as if they'd never existed. Her green eyes took on a somber look beyond her years.   
  
"Why doesn't anyone believe me?"   
  
She cast her eyes downwards towards the floor. 'I know why. Because I'm the bad girl of the family- the one who always causes trouble.'  
  
Buttercup cradled herself mid-air. 'And Blossom is the good child, and Bubbles.. ' she paused a moment. 'I think Bubbles must be the perfect one.' She glanced outside at the sun, which was   
gently setting in the west. Tears streamed down her face, unbidden. 'And me.. I'm the bad one..   
the one who always does something wrong. No wonder Professor believed Blossom and not   
me.. I'm just the bad one.'  
  
The girl sat down on her side of the bed, and grabbed her alligator for comfort. 'It's not fair.. I'm the different one in this whole household.. Blossom, Bubbles, the Professor.. they were meant to be the perfect family. But not me. I just smash the picture in two...'  
  
Buttercup frowned. "They don't need me. Not at all. I think I'll just- I'll run away. Yeah. That's what I'll do. They don't need me at all."  
  
Raven hair flew followed by a green light as she pulled a suitcase out of the closet. Just then, a small knock was heard at the door. Frightened, Buttercup hid the suitcase under her bed.  
  
"Buttercup?" a small voice asked at the door. Breathing easily, the girl opened the door to reveal Bubbles.   
  
"Yeah, what is it?" Buttercup answered slightly gruff. Bubbles hadn't been the one to start anything, but she hadn't spoken up either.  
  
"I just.." the girl looked close to tears. "I wanted to say sorry for what Blossom's done. I tried to tell Professor, I really tried.." The blonde sat on the floor. Buttercup felt sorry, and sat beside her. She smiled reasurringly.   
  
"It's ok. I just.." she wistfully looked at the window. "It's allright, Bubbles. Just.. Just leave me alone right now, ok? I have some stuff I have to do." She made it a point not to look at her sister as she spoke. Angry at everyone else, it was hardest not to feel bad for leaving her sister Bubbles. She was the one who deserved this the least.  
  
Bubbles left, taking one glance back at her sister. 'I hope she's allright,' the blonde wished as she flew out of the room.  
  
Finally alone, Buttercup resumed her packing. When she was finished, she grabbed a paper and a pen, then scrawled a note to the family telling them she was innocent and had run away, never to return. Finished with her work, the girl grabbed her jacket out of the closet and grabbed her rucksack. She flew out the window and headed towards the mountains.   
  
Before she made it the entire way, she turned back one last time, staring at the place where she had lived her happiest memories and her now darkest moment. The raven-haired girl then turned and flew away, leaving her past behind her.   
  
Meanwhile, a father had found his daughter's note, and the truth had come out. But Buttercup was already gone.... 


	2. Fitting Pieces

Wow. O.O Thanks for all the reviews! I love all you guys (^_^) Please continue to read & please review! (Thank you!!)  
  
  
Raven hair continued to flow through the sky as Buttercup made her journey away from the city. Finished with her crying, her eyes still were a bit red from all her efforts.   
  
"Stupid family," she muttered, and continued on her way, noticing how the landscape seemed to change drastically from that of familiar Townsville. Mountains now laid themselves out before her, their tall peaks jutting into the horizon.  
  
'Where am I going to go?' she wondered suddenly, and stopped mid-air. She glanced back at townsville. 'I can't go back- the Professor would be even more furious with me.. so where do I go?'  
  
Suddenly faced with the realization that she had no plan, Buttercup's heart erupted into a passionate bout of fear. Where would she go? What would she do? She glanced back into her rucksack of foods and goods. Two juiceboxes and a sandwich left. Tears started to dangerously lurk near the corners of her eyes.   
  
She fell to the ground softly and sat on a rock overlooking the forest scene that laid itself beneath her. Buttercup finally gave into her aching heart, and cried into her small hands, full of anguish.  
  
'This world isn't fair! Why did I have to be born the fighter? Why am I not loved..' Buttercup's thoughts started to become vocal.   
  
"Where am I going to go?" She glanced back at the direction that Townsville should have been, but her eyes grew large when she realized she could no longer see it. Tears anew streamed down her face.   
  
Anger started to boil in her veins, replacing the anguish by stifling it like a burning flame. "AHHHHHRGHH!!!!" She flew to the nearest tree, and punched it to the forest floor, kicking at its trunk all the while as it fell to the ground. Green eyes seemed to burn red as Buttercup's laser eyes finally turned the pile of wood to an ashen lump.   
  
Her vision regained clarity. Buttercup sobbed again as she witnessed the tree burning, its very presence seemingly calling forth memories of home. She could almost see the Professor's mournful eyes piercing into her soul as he discovered her wrongdoings.   
  
"I wish I'd never been born," she said, her raven hair suddenly unruly from her pulling at its strands. She pulled her knees close to her person and started to shake as she vented all the pain she felt inside her little heart.  
  
Suddenly, footsteps from behind made Buttercup's head rise instantly, her eyes wide with fear. She slowly turned, expecting the worst.  
  
And was silent, watching the person that headed towards her.  
  
A squat, bald man made his journey down the mountain to where she was sitting. He wore simple brown clothes that flowed over his body like water. His eyes were focused on the ground before him, a walking stick aiding him to cover the terrain that he needed to.  
  
Suddenly aware of the silence, he looked up, to find himself looking into eyes whose color mirrored his own. Green upon green. He gave a gentle smile to the girl whose crying had been silenced by his arrival.  
  
"Don't be frightened. I'm Brother Peter. I won't hurt you," he said calmly, his eyes full of a mixture of pity and compassion. He put his stick down once more, to stand directly behind a slightly frightened Buttercup.  
  
"Brother? I don't have a brother," murmured Buttercup, still staring. She stood up and turned aruond to directly face him. Her face was still full of fear.  
  
The man laughed heartily, then sat on a nearby rock. "Brother is my title. I'm a monk, you see.. I live in the monestary up on the hill, there." He paused, realizing her eyes were still puffy from crying. "Now, dear, what's the matter?"  
  
Buttercup looked down, not sure of how to put her words in order. If she told them who she really was, they'd send her home for sure. If not, that'd be lying.. and Buttercup wasn't supposed to lie. She finally settled on something.  
  
"I don't have a home to go to anymore."   
  
Brother Peter looked down at the girl with compassion. So, either this girl was an orphan, or a runaway. He'd guess the latter, but dared not say anything to this little child.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
Thinking quickly, the green-eyed girl remembered all that had taken place where she'd used to live. 'I'm not part of their family anymore. I don't belong at all. Therefore, I'm not Buttercup Utonium anymore. But then.. who should I be?'   
  
The quiet monk watched the child wrestle within herself. 'She's probably frightened to give me her name- afraid I'll send her home. Well, after I see what the situation is, perhaps I will have to, shame as it is. She seems so sure she doesn't have a home anymore.'  
  
Finally, the perfect name dawned on Buttercup. The very things that seemed to separate her from her sisters, eye and hair color, would provide a simple alibi.  
  
"I'm Jade Raven."  
  
The monk smiled at her, then offered her his hand. "Well then, Miss Raven, would you like to come inside, out of the wilderness?" Brother Peter motioned back towards the top of the hill. "You're more than welcome to stay at the monestary, if you wish."  
  
Buttercup- Jade Raven- gave him her hand and started to trudge up the hill, towards the monestary. Suddenly, she remembered her pack, and grabbed it quickly before she rejoined Brother Peter.  
  
He smiled down at the young child. Obviously, she was well-fed and of sound mind. 'She must have had a very good home- or maybe she still does.'   
  
"Thank you," she said very sweetly as they walked up the hill together, hand in hand. 'I might find a new home here. In this.. mone.. mone..'  
  
"Where did you say you live?" she asked Brother Peter.  
  
"At the monestary, on top of the hill." His eyes were kindly, and in no time, they reached their destination. Buttercup's eyes were wide as Brother Peter opened the door to the inside of the large building.   
  
"Wow...." Buttercup said, in deep awe, as she looked inside.  
  
Monks stood around in groups, singing, working, and doing their daily duties. A few passed by, calmly, taking in the scenery. Others stood around, arguing over something they'd read. The little girl was quite overwhelmed by the sight of it all.   
  
"Come now, child," Brother Peter admonished, and he took her hand and led her to a hallway opposite of where they'd entered. Buttercup seemed nervous from all the tall ceilings and majesty of everything.   
  
Finally, the duo reached their destination. The monk pushed open the door towards the room that they'd been walking towards. The raven-haired girl became nervous, the large walls making her a bit timid and scared. It was so open inside of the monestary. So big, while she was so small.  
  
"Now calm down, Miss Raven. We'll see about what to do with you in a minute. Why don't you sit down and color here?" Brother Peter pulled out some paper and crayons for the young girl to use.  
  
Buttercup's heart nearly shattered. Coloring was what Bubbles did best, not her. She'd never really had the oppurtunity to color before. Blossom had always told her that it wasn't right for her to, since only Bubbles could color.  
  
'If only Blossom could see me now... Here, Brother Peter treats me like a normal girl. He doesn't yell at me like the Professor, or make fun of me like Blossom did. This place is nice..' She thought as she knelt against a small table and took out a crayon from the small box placed beside her.   
  
'Green. I'll start with green,' she thought to herself as she picked up the small bit of wax.  
  
Brother Peter, meanwhile, went into Father Andrew's office, to talk to him about the small girl. He sat down before the older man's desk, and the Father sighed. Brother Peter was a gentle man, but he always seemed to have a knack for causing small disturbances.  
  
"What is it, Brother?"  
  
The monk seemed a bit edgy. "I found a child, Father, while I was outside today, looking for berries. She's all alone, and from what she's told me, she seems to be an orphan or a runaway. I was wondering if perhaps-"  
  
"Perhaps what? We would keep the child here?"  
  
"It would be a good thing for the entire monestary. We've not had a child to take care of since little Samuel, and he left for college about a year or so past."  
  
"Yes, but little Samuel was a boy. A man, now. How are we to take care of a she- a female? None of us have experience with girls."  
  
Brother Peter nodded, as though he'd thought of this. "I believe the child has a family, but for some reason or another, they either abandoned her or disowned her. She truly believes she has no home. Are we to turn a child away from our doorstep?"  
  
The Father sighed. "No, we are not. I just hope that we are doing the right thing by taking her in. She'll need an education, and.. there are some things that we monks are just not able to teach her.. Things that a mother should take care of. Perhaps we should send her to the sisterhood?"  
  
"The sisterhood is already overly full of children. They would not be able to take care of her."  
  
"Then what would you suggest, as I can already see that a plan is in your eyes?"  
  
The monk opened his palms to the Father. "Why not take her in, perhaps for about ten or so years? Until she reaches the age of puberty? She's a little girl now, perhaps about five or so. In ten years, we could send her to one of the city's high schools and have her board in-city. I do not think it best that we turn her away, or deny her the chance to succeed in life just because she was turned out of her home."  
  
The Father pondered. "The idea has merit, and your reasons are sound. We shall keep her for a bit, as a trial. If things get too out of hand with her, then we shall send her to the sisterhood to deal with. Does this agreement suit you?"  
  
Brother Peter nodded. "Yes, and thank you for your help. Where shall I board the little girl at?"  
  
"Why not take her to the new wing? I believe we have an empty room there. And as for education- I believe Brother Issac has been itching to teach someone young for a while. Speak to him then." The Father stood. "Good luck then, with your charge, Brother."  
  
"Thank you, Father," he said, and he went back out to where Buttercup was sitting. The young girl was happily coloring away on the paper he'd given her. He kneeled downward to where she sat, looking at her drawing.  
  
Buttercup's eyes seemed completely fixed on the small piece of paper before her. 'And then, for some red for the mouth..' She added to the drawing, then brought her crayon to a halt as it finished. Her stuffed alligator stared back at her from the paper. She giggled.  
  
'What a sweet child this is,' Brother Peter thought to himself. 'How could anyone ever abandon such a child?'  
  
She looked up at the monk, and took the piece of paper in her hands. Slightly afraid of what the response might be, she held up the paper to him. The monk smiled. He'd seen alligators in books before. And this girl wasn't bad at drawing them, especially for a five year old.   
  
"It's for you!" Buttercup smiled, thankful that this nice man had taken her in. 'I hope I can stay here. I hope they don't force me to go back to Townsville, to the Professor. If he found me, he'd probably yell at me for hours. And then Blossom would smile behind him the whole time, knowing the truth, but still making fun of me.'  
  
The Brother looked touched. "This is beautiful. How about, though, I don't keep this to myself? May I hang it up so that all the monestary may see your little alligator?"   
  
"Sure, I mean, if you think it's that good."  
  
The monk reached out with his hand to grasp hers. "I think it is very beautiful, indeed." He smiled gently. "Now I do have some good news. Father Andrew has said that you can stay here-" he did not miss the brightness that came through in her eyes, "until you're old enough to take care of yourself. Are you hungry?"  
  
Buttercup looked downward, almost as if she was consulting with her stomach, then looked up at him and nodded. "Yes."  
  
"Then let us go down to the kitchen, and see what Brother Matthew can make for you." He smiled, taking her hand and leading her out the door and down the corridor towards the dining room in the monestary....  
  
  
Meanwhile, in Townsville, a saddened Professor sat in front of a television camera. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and depression. He sat up straight, and looked down at the two girls that sat on his lap. Bubbles clung to him, her little cheeks still stained with tears that refused to stop. He sighed.  
  
Why had he done it? Why had he believed Blossom? His eyes looked downward. He knew why. Seemingly, Blossom reminded him of himself. She was the most scientific, the most logic-driven of his girls. Just like Bubbles was his gentlest girl.  
  
He looked down at the blonde. She was heartbroken. She had been the last to talk to her sister before she'd left. Bubbles took everything so much to heart. And Buttercup running away was hurting her more than anything in the world. It was hurting them all.   
  
Professor Utonium then looked towards his redheaded daughter. Blossom sat very still on his knee, not shedding any tears, keeping all of her anger deep inside. He felt the anger inside of him flare up again- she had essentially instigated this- but he calmed it down, realizing that blame would not get any of them anywhere.  
  
He stared ahead at the camera. Why had he always been so tough on his seemingly toughest child? He remembered her little face clearly. Always the one not to cry in battle. Always the one who seemed indestructable. Always the one who seemingly instigated things.  
  
But after hearing what had happened before she'd run away, the Professor had to wonder how much of the incidents that happened in the Utonium household actually had been instigated by her. All three girls were children, after all. He seemed to forget that fact sometimes, mostly because they didn't act much like children.  
  
And now, he'd lost his indestructable child because he hadn't paid enough attention to what was happening in his own home. He'd constantly put the blame on her, yelled at her, scolded at her. Every chide, every remark, now felt like a scar upon his heart. He loved her just as much as he loved her sisters.   
  
Buttercup, however, may not have known that. And now.. she may be gone to him forever. There were people out there, sick people, that if Buttercup ever fell into their hands- they might not be able to physically hurt her, being a superhero. But right now, her heart was so weak and her mind so muddled that she might be emotionally hurt. And for that, Professor Utonium blamed himself.  
  
She was only five years old, and she had run away because she hurt so bad. Knowing that only made the words he uttered towards the camera harder, each one pounding into him like a sledgehammer.  
  
"I'm Professor Utonium. My daughter- Buttercup- has run away from home. Please, if anyone knows where she is, send her home. I love her so much. Please.."  
  
(to be continued) 


	3. Finding Ways

^_^ Thank you all for the kind words- I'm glad you've enjoyed this. I apologize right now for the lack of chapters coming out, but a few research papers have kept me sidetracked.. Thanks all for your patience (which I am now starting to believe is infinite) and I hope you like this chapter!  
  
The halls seemed to widen as Buttercup walked beside Brother Peter, her small hands holding onto her backpack. She smiled, looking at all the glorious glass etchings that tapered the windows of the monestary. She smiled, seeing one that had a man holding a lamb in his arms.  
  
The lamb made her think of innocent, unknowing Bubbles, and how she must be affected by her sudden disappearance. Buttercup frowned, for the first time, feeling slightly guilty by her sudden desertion of her pure-hearted sister. Brother Peter looked down at her, as her sudden guilt had inspired a lack of speed in her walking pace.  
  
"Jade, is there anything the matter?" He kindly asked as they headed towards Brother Isaac's room.  
  
Sensing that Brother Peter had picked up on her sudden self-doubt, Buttercup masked her feelings and looked up at him with a big grin.  
  
"No, Brother Peter. Just.. thinking, that's all."  
  
The monk smiled at her gently, then continued on his way, thinking, 'Something terrible must have happened for her to be abandoned the way she was. Although how someone could treat such a joy of a child in an unkind manner is beyond me.'  
  
Finally, the duo came upon the door marked, 'Brother Isaac'. Buttercup fidgeted as Brother Peter rapped his knuckles against the wooden frame of the door.  
  
She jumped as she suddenly heard a thick baratone made the wood vibrate.   
  
"Be there in a second, good brother! Just- ACK!!" Suddenly, a crash was heard, and then a very pregnant pause subsided. "On second thought, let yourself in!!"  
  
Brother Peter kneeled down to explain to a very confused looking Buttercup, his expression one of amusement.  
  
"You see, Miss Raven, Brother Issac is what we would consider.. curious. He likes to meddle with things, and from time to time, the things that he meddles with fight back!"  
  
Buttercup giggled. It sounded a lot like the Professor. Her expression grew serious for a moment as she pondered that, but she regained control as she noticed Brother Peter's watchful eye.  
  
Rising to stand, her monk escort turned the knob and pushed the door open to reveal Brother Isaac's mess of a room. Maps hung sporadically throughout the simple walls of the monk's habitat. Buttercup looked around until the source of the noise came into her field of vision. When she saw it, she giggled aloud.  
  
Brother Issac had somehow entangled himself within a large tangle of maps and papers; his left arm had been pinned to the side thanks to his antics, and his right arm was barely free. Brother Peter stifled a laugh, covering his mouth.  
  
"Brother Issac? Do you need some help there?" he asked, smiling all the while. The other monk gave him an overacted sigh, and smiled, nodding his bushy gray eyebrows along with the rest of his visible head.  
  
Brother Peter walked over and attempted to untangle the older man from his predicament. Buttercup watched with her hand practically glued to her mouth to keep herself from giggling anymore. The older monk looked extremely silly, and Brother Peter's rescue attempts appeared to be in vain, as the older monk continually got recaught up in his messy work.   
  
Finally, the duo untangled Brother Issac, who brushed his legs off with a clean sweep of his arms. He smiled at Brother Peter, then spoke.  
  
"Well, what brings you here, younger Brother? Did you need some sort of advice on something? Find some special form of a spice that we can use?"   
  
Brother Peter shook his head, and smiled.   
  
"No, I think I have something much more exciting for you. Or rather, someone. I have found you a new pupil, Brother Issac!"  
  
"A new pupil?" The monk queried, looking behind Brother Peter's leg to reveal the raven-haired girl that was Buttercup. He smiled, then looked at Peter quizzically.  
  
"A girl? But I thought-"  
  
"Special circumstances. It's already been approved and taken care of. Her name's Jade." Brother Peter stepped aside, leaving Buttercup to face the man directly. For the first time in her life, Buttercup felt a smidgen of fear. What if she wasn't smart enough for this man? She wasn't like Blossom-  
  
Even thinking the name brought angry steam into her face, making her cheeks a bit pink. Brother Issac took it to be nervousness, and kneeled down on one knee to inspect the girl further.  
  
"Well now. Jade, is it? How do you do? I'm Brother Peter-" He held out his hand and clasped hers when she finally offered it.   
  
"It's so nice to meet you- it's been a while since I've taught, but I'm sure with a good pupil like you," he paused to pinch her cheek lightly, "It should be no problem for me to regain my teaching fervor." He winked, then looked up at Brother Peter.  
  
"I'm sure you have more arrangements to make- why don't you leave her here with me. I can test out her knowledge areas, and you can do what you have to for our new guest."  
  
Buttercup looked up at Brother Peter, pleading in her eyes to not be left alone with this new stranger, however kind he might have been. Brother Peter gave a nod of encouragement.   
  
"Don't worry, Jade," he said, patting her head, "I'll be back in a small while. Brother Issac is right, I do have arrangements to make, and it would be helpful if you stayed here and told him what you do know, so he can start a cirriculum for you."  
  
The emerald-eyed girl nodded once, her eyes still full of fear, but yet a small bit of understanding shone through.  
  
'He's talking to me as if I'm an adult. The Professor would have never done such a thing- just dismissed me as the fighting child who wouldn't understand the nature of anything but fighting.'   
  
She reached out and hugged the end of Brother Peter's fraying brown robes, then walked timidly to where the elder monk stood. The younger monk left, smiling as he opened the door to go and talk to others in the monestary, to see to Jade's well being.   
  
Brother Issac turned to his newest pupil.   
  
"Well, shall we get started?"  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Professor Utonium sat in the living room, glued to his television set. He looked out the window once, suddenly realizing that it was very dark outside. Sighing, he looked down to where he'd left an anxious Bubbles propped against his leg.  
  
She was sound asleep.  
  
Grateful for a moment of blissful peace during this time of heart-wrenching agony, he lifted his small blonde daughter into his arms, and headed up the stairs to where the girl's room was. He tried to stay quiet, as he knew Blossom was probably already asleep.  
  
As he walked down the hallway, he could hear sniffles coming from the room. Juggling Bubbles in his arms as to not wake her up, he kneeled down, listening to the noises that arose from his daughters' bedroom.  
  
"I.. I didn't mean to, Buttercup, I.." More sniffles.   
  
The Professor creaked open the door a smidgen to see into the newly depressive room. His most logic-driven child was sitting on a stool, looking out the window, tears streaming down her face into her auburn hair.  
  
'She's only five.. I have to remember-' The man was cut off from his thinking as Blossom continued her soul-reckoning.  
  
"Buttercup- I know we used to fight and stuff, and I know I was a pain, but.. I never thought you'd-" More sniffling. "-run away. You've always been there for Bubbles and I during our battles- you were always dependable, even if it sometimes took a blanket to bring out your dependableness.."  
  
His heart aching, the Professor stood. He couldn't let his daughter carry any more pain in her heart. Once again, watching his blonde child's breathing, he entered their small room, and laid her out on the bed.   
  
Even asleep, there were signs that she missed her sister, as Bubbles grabbed for the green part of the girls' blanket, trying to make it envelope her small form.   
  
Holding back the pain he was feeling, Professor Utonium strided over to where Blossom sat, and kneeled beside her. Blossom's young face was still turned up to face the dark sky outside, the tears upon her face twinkling as bright as the stars.  
  
"You know, Professor- I.. I didn't mean to- I never meant for this to-" Finally, she broke down, sobbing, as Professor Utonium gathered his red-haired child into his arms. He stroked her hair silently, cursing himself for making the girl feel guilty right after he'd found out the truth. It had to be killing her small heart.  
  
"Shh, it's okay, honey. It's okay, my little girl. Shh.." he continued to stroke her hair as the tears continued to fall down her already soaked face. Professor Utonium looked out to the sky outside, and his heart nearly broke.  
  
'Why, Buttercup, why? Please- please return home! I don't care when, I don't care how, just return safe- I love you.. Please..'   
  
The thoughts continued to ring in the young father's mind as he continued to hold his weeping daughter...  
  
************************************************************  
  
Brother Peter laughed at the ironic twist of the remark he'd just told the clothes maker, Brother Abraham.   
  
'I'm on a mission from God.'  
  
Back before he'd become a monk, he would have laughed at himself for even thinking he'd have said those words seriously. He knew that others would have too, knowing what cult movie it was derived from. But now..  
  
Now it was true. And thanks to Jade, he now was sure he'd made the right decision to become a monk. Otherwise, he'd have never met a little girl with a bright spirit in her dazzling emerald eyes.   
  
He chuckled. It was time to check on his protege. He only hoped she hadn't been too much for Brother Issac...  
  
Brother Peter listened at the door where the two were working out the girl's knowledge capabilities. He smiled as he heard the two talking. So funny- a high soprano and a low bass. They'd be great together in choir, if Jade was ever permitted to be a part of it.  
  
"And George Washington was the first president, I think.. and then there was.. there was.."  
  
"That's enough, enough!" Laughter rang. "I will be sure to tell Brother Peter he's brought a little genius to me-"  
  
"Really?" Brother Peter laughed, pushing open the door to permit the two into his field of vision. "A little genius, eh?" He towseled Buttercup's hair. "Maybe one day, she'll be teaching you!"  
  
The two monks continued to talk, praising Buttercup's appeared genius. The young girl looked deep within herself, a mental battle brewing...  
  
The emerald-eyed girl looked downward. 'They think I'm a genius- I never realized I was smart because- because..' She sighed. 'Because Blossom was always around..'  
  
"Jade? Jade?"  
  
Not quick to recognize, but quick to remember, Buttercup snapped out of her self-induced trance.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Brother Issac grinned. "I thought I'd lost you to the Father's daydreams of heaven! Do you remember what I just said?"  
  
The raven girl shook her head as a no. Brother Peter held back a guffaw. She was too much. Too very much. He was now almost completely sure that she was sent here by the Father himself to liven up the monestary. It would be just like Him.  
  
A mischievious glimmer also arose in Brother Issac's eye. "I just told your caregiver here," nodding at Brother Peter, "That I think we'll be starting your lessons the beginning of this week. You do well enough in numbers and reading, but you do need a little bit more when it comes to history and geography. Knowing the first president isn't enough, I think. But with time, we'll have you knowing them all in order!"  
  
"All of them?" Buttercup gulped. Maybe she hadn't been smart to run away- Miss Keane had never been this hard a schoolteacher. Brother Issac laughed.  
  
"Yes, my girl, but with time. Not in a week or a month. Perhaps not even a year. You are still young- I wouldn't expect you to know everything about the world in such a short amount of time!" He smiled, then looked at the younger monk.  
  
"I think God sent you to me, little Miss Raven. He knew of my need. I'll see you on Monday, okay?" He smiled down at her, raising himself off of his slightly kneeling position, then holding out his hand to Brother Peter, and clasping the younger monk's.  
  
"I can't begin to thank you-" he started, and Peter laughed.  
  
"Don't thank me. Thank the father, brother. Now if you don't mind, I have to take our little prodigy here down to see Brother Mark."  
  
The older monk raised an eyebrow, and looked at the younger with a sideways glance. "Are you.. certain that's a good idea? She's rather young, and-"  
  
"I believe it's for the best- she'll be on our own after this, and we'll have to prepare her the best that we can. I know how a lot of you feel about Brother Mark, but I feel he will make her ready when she has to leave us for the dangerous world."  
  
Buttercup looked between the two men, puzzling over what made this Brother Mark such an oddity in the monestary.   
  
The two men finally realized that there were small ears listening, and both smiled down at Buttercup, their smiles a bit forced so that she wouldn't be able to sense the tension between the two.   
  
"Well, Jade," said Brother Peter, "I guess we'd better be off. I've already seen to your clothing and bedding needs, just one more stop for today, and then I'll let you rest. How does that sound?" He rested his hand upon her small shoulder.  
  
The raven-haired girl nodded.   
  
"Goodbye, Jade- see you bright and early on the first of the new week!" Brother Isaac said, slightly shooing them out of the door. The duo of Brother Peter and Buttercup walked out, Peter enigmatic, Buttercup puzzled.  
  
As they ventured down the hall, Buttercup tugged on Brother Peter's sleeve, her curiousity getting the better of her.  
  
"Brother Peter?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Who is this.. Brother Mark? And why was Brother Isaac so afraid of him?"  
  
Brother Peter sighed. He'd been expecting this.  
  
"Well, you see, Jade," he started, continuing down the hallway in his slow, steady pace, "Brother Mark is.. unusual, you could probably say. Before he converted to Catholisism, he was a Brother of a different faith."  
  
"Faith?"  
  
"A belief structure, a different-" He looked down at her, chuckling to himself. If he wasn't old enough to know better, he'd think that she actually understood that. He reworded his thoughts.  
  
"He came from a different kind of church."  
  
"Oh. You mean like there were two different churches on main street where I used to live?" She asked, looking up at him with wide emerald eyes.  
  
"Yes! Something like that. Only his church was a lot farther in some ways than your two churches across the street. One might even say they were countries apart."  
  
Buttercup gasped. "There's that much distance between some churches?"  
  
Brother Peter chuckled some more. "Ah, the ignorance of youth. Yes, little one, sometimes churches are countries apart. Although in Brother Mark's case, it's a little.. hmm.. different than that. His church was not only very far away, but very different from ours."  
  
"How?" asked Buttercup curiously as they stopped by a doorway.  
  
"He was a shoa-lin monk. He teaches.. well, you'll figure it out in a second."   
  
With that out of his mind, Brother Peter knocked three hard raps against the other monk's door. A strange voice answered him, smooth, but with a hard quality.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"It's Brother Peter, Mark. I have something I have to show you- and ask."  
  
Grumbling was heard from the inner depths of the room, then finally some weight was shifted around. The door clicked as someone unlocked it from the inside.  
  
"Come in," the mysterious voice answered.  
  
Buttercup went into the room, Brother Peter edging her in front of him. Finally, Buttercup could see well enough that an outline of a man stood in front of her. She lost her voice.  
  
"Well, what brings you here, Brother Peter? Has our Brother James found something else wrong with me?"  
  
The young monk smiled, then said, "No, nothing like that at all. Actually, I have a challenge of sorts here for you. Something that you might enjoy doing."  
  
"Enjoy doing?"  
  
The monk's face came into the light, revealing a slightly angled face with a sharp nose and a well-chiseled chin. His expression was unreadable as he looked deep into Brother Peter's eyes.  
  
"Tell me more."  
  
Brother Peter cast his hands upon Buttercup's shoulders. "We need you to train her. She's an orphan, and in ten years she'll be out there in the world. As part of our oath, we must ensure that she'll be safe when she's out there."  
  
"Really? What's your name, child?" he said, now staring into a shaking Buttercup's eyes.  
  
"Jade.." Buttercup flinched as she nearly forgot her new last name, "Raven. Jade Raven, sir."  
  
"Ah," he said, drawing a long breath at last. "It's been a long time since I trained a female. This should be interesting, Jade Raven." He looked up at Brother Peter.   
  
"Bring her back here tomorrow. I'll see what she's made of then."  
  
Brother Peter nodded, and urged the young girl out of the room, Brother Mark twisting his chair once again, his back to the door once more. The duo did not speak until they were at least ten paces away.  
  
"Brother Peter.. what does Brother Mark teach?" she asked, still a bit frightened of the mysterious monk.  
  
He smiled grimly. "He teaches the martial arts, Jade. A very violent, but peaceful way of defending oneself." He looked down at her. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be gentle, since you don't know anything about fighting."  
  
Buttercup sweated all the way back to her room, beads trickling down her forehead.   
  
'What am I going to do? I can't not fight Brother Mark, because then he'll beat me up! But if I do fight, he'll probably figure out who I am and send me back to my awful home.. What am I going to do?'......  
  
****************************************************  
  
To be continued.. Please R&R- (no flames, please!) & I promise the next chapter will come out MUCH quicker! ^_~ 


	4. Fighting Dirty

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing my story- you have all made me feel warm and special inside- special thanks to all of you who've left a review every chapter.   
  
PS- Did this chapter come out quick enough for you? ^_~  
  
I hope that you enjoy this chapter.. let the fanfic continue!  
  
*************  
  
Buttercup tossed and turned in the new bed that Brother Peter had assigned to her. It was comfortable enough with its feather pillow and soft, woolen sheets, but the thoughts that ran through its sleepers' mind were anything but.  
  
'If Brother Mark should discover my secret- will he send me back? And if I am sent back.. what will the Professor do to me? Will he yell at me again while Blossom stands in the backdrop, smiling that knowing smile that she always does? Or will he have already disowned me as his daughter? What if..'  
  
The thoughts continued to race through the young girl's mind. She held her stuffed alligator tighter to her small breast. Her throat swelled from crying so much. She suddenly thought she saw a light coming closer towards her door. Fearing discovery, Buttercup feigned sleep.  
  
Brother Peter looked in on Jade, having heard noises coming from her room. When he inspected closer, he could see that she was already asleep, but that trails of wetness creeped down her cherubic cheeks. Brother held a hand to his heart. The poor child.  
  
Once again, the monk wondered how anyone could abandon, or disown, such a perfect little girl. But maybe it hadn't been her. It could have been a divorce gone wrong, and a child punished in misunderstanding. Or an unready mother's child, who left her child in the street, unable to cope with her sin of having it.  
  
He closed the door and went back to his room, thoughts running all through his mind just as they did in small Buttercup's. If only they had known what happened.. If only they could know..  
  
*******************  
  
The night went by peacefully, Buttercup finally drifting off to sleep late into the night. Her small heart beat slowly, her dreams light and airy, filled with only the good things that she would never see again- never experience again while she was here.  
  
Miss Keane, smiling down at her class. Bubbles, coloring in a drawing. The Professor, clutching her gently in a large hug, his warm body comforting against her own small frame.   
  
Suddenly, the dream turned horrid, Blossom taking up all of her field of vision, evil screams being scraped up and down Buttercup's back, the agony tearing at her heart. Finally, the small girl awoke, sweat dripping down the back of her young neck.  
  
"It's only a dream.. it's only a dream.." Buttercup kept saying to herself, trying to keep it all away from her daytime vision. Things were not supposed to follow from dreams into daylight, but one never knew. And Buttercup wasn't taking any chances.  
  
Sighing, she stood up to look closer at her surroundings. Buttercup was astonished to realize that someone had already laid out an outfit for her- unlike the monks, but unlike the clothes she'd come in. It was made of simple wool, dyed a light green, as in the fashion of grass. There was a pair of underbreeches to go with it, as well as a belt to tie everything up.   
  
When Buttercup put the clothes on, she turned around to face a mirror that hung simply on the door. The clothes did her much justice, the top covering matching her eyes completely. The breeches were comfortable as well, and the simple white doeskin belt fit her form well. She looked in the corner and found a pair of brown leather shoes.  
  
Slipping them on, Buttercup went out to explore her new surroundings and see if Brother Peter was awake yet.  
  
***********************************************  
  
Professor Utonium sat by the phone, his fingers unmoving, their strength completely sapped. He placed his left hand to his forehead, his knuckles white.   
  
He hadn't performed an experiment in the past two days. He hadn't even looked at anything pleasant in the past two days, save for the twin children he still held in his arms.  
  
Blossom was much more subdued lately. Her change of attitude came mostly from the great guilt she carried inside. Professor Utonium had tried talking again and again to his most logic-driven child, but she would have nothing of it. Her heart was convinced that she'd never see her sister again, and it would be her doing.  
  
It was too great a guilt for a child her age to carry about.  
  
Miss Keane had called earlier this morning, also feeling to blame for the events that had transpired in the last few days. Her fever was now gone, and the doctors predicted a full recovery.   
  
However, that could not dull the pain that was edging in her heart. She'd talked with the Professor for hours this morning, crying with him on the phone, his own tears going down his cheeks as the woman spoke to him.   
  
That was all in the past now. The police had given up hope, telling the Professor that if she were still alive, someone must have utilized her superpowers in some way by now. There was no way such a powerful little girl could have survived unless someone had preyed upon her emotional weakness.  
  
Utonium cracked a grin. His daughter, weak? Ha. She'd been the strongest of the three- but not when it came to showing her emotions. Too many times had it been drilled into her that since she was the best fighter, she should show as little emotion as possible.   
  
If only he could change that now.  
  
Bubbles hopped down from her father's lap and went to go look out the window, still searching for some forlorn source of hope to continue on. His child, his precious child. So much pain, and so small. She didn't understand pettiness or greed, hatred or anger.   
  
As Buttercup had once said, and he hadn't paid attention, "Blossom's the good child, Bubbles is the perfect child, and I'm the fighter. I'm always the fighter." He put his face in his hand.   
  
Professor Utonium finally gave up. He stood up and took both his daughters by their small hands. It was time to tell them the dark truth that he could now feel envelope his heart.  
  
"Blossom, Bubbles.. your sister's not coming back.."  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Buttercup looked at the hallway outside her door. Seeing no one around, she floated up for a minute to a large window she saw a few feet up. Looking out, she could see the beautiful foilage of the forest that surrounded the monestary.   
  
The scuffling of feet came into her range of hearing, and Buttercup quickly descended to the ground, her eyes alert for any signs of people coming by. Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind her.  
  
"You're awake. And here I thought you were going to sleep the day away, little one," Brother Peter said, looking at her fondly. Buttercup reached out and hugged the monk, her fright still not completely dissolved from last night.  
  
"Did you have a bad dream, little one?" He asked, lifting her up. "It's all right, I'm here. You're at our monestary, not back from whence you came." He placed her back onto the stone floor of the walkway.  
  
"However, since you are now awake, it's time for you to go and visit Brother Mark. I talked with him some more after you fell asleep, and he wanted to see you first thing in the morning."   
  
Buttercup's face must have carried a worried expression, because Brother Peter gave her another gentle smile and squeezed her small hand gently.  
  
"It'll be fine. Brohter Mark knows that you don't have any real skills in martial arts or combat. He'll be gentle. Don't worry, little one. You'll be fine." He glanced down at her, and then nudged her into a small walk towards the training hall of the monestary that Brother Mark had built not long ago.  
  
"You know, even though combat is known to be a very violent sport, martial arts does have its aspects of peace. You can also learn from Brother Mark these things. He'll make sure you have peace that you may gain through means of meditation and such. And when you're older," he tweaked her small nose, "You'll be allowed to join us in our own forms of meditation."  
  
Buttercup gulped. She had no idea what the word meditation meant, let alone that there was more than one form of it.   
  
Finally, they came to an oaken door with large handles upon the sides of it, and curious markings carved into the top of it. Buttercup swallowed the saliva that dripped down her small throat. She took a pleading look up at Brother Peter once more. He nodded, encouraging her.  
  
"I'll be right out here when you're done," Brother Peter said, giving her a little nudge towards the door. Buttercup took a great breath, then pushed the door.  
  
Inside the door, a small wooden room existed, with a long mirror that hung upon one side, and holes of stone on the other side of the room that faced the great outdoors. There was a simple mat lying on the floor, and great poles that hung on another side of the room.   
  
In the center was the monk that Buttercup had met yesterday. He sat in an indian-style crossing of legs, his back straight, and his fingers raised to the sky. Buttercup thought it was a very funny way of sitting down.  
  
"B.. Brother Mark?" Buttercup ventured to the man sitting in the center of the room. She was afraid of this man.. even though she'd beaten up people about four or five times his size with meaner temperaments. It was just.. that she had to make sure she didn't give away any secrets about herself.. or that she didn't hurt him.  
  
"Brother Mark?" she asked again when he didn't flinch a muscle. She took a step closer to him.  
  
"That's close enough, Jade Raven. I'll be with you soon. I just have to finish my morning prayers before I can train you this morning," he said, out of the blue. Buttercup sat down, watching the former Shio-lin monk finish whatever he was doing.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Brother Mark opened his eyes and looked directly into Buttercup's. The young girl was startled to find that he had one green eye and one blue eye. She looked at him with all the innocence of a child, not knowing what to say.  
  
"So, you're to learn the martial arts, are you, Jade Raven?" He looked at her quizzically, and Buttercup snapped back to reality.  
  
"Um.. yes. That's what Brother Peter told me anyways."  
  
The monk looked towards the ground, then looked directly at her. "Why do you wish to learn the art of martial fighting, Jade Raven? What skills could you learn from this that would help you in the world?"  
  
Buttercup looked downcast towards the floor, then gave her answer, "Brother Peter says that I'll need it to keep me alive whenever I go out into the real world after I leave here. And I want to be able to be okay wherever we go. If the skills you'll give me will make it so, then I want to learn them."  
  
"Such archaic words for such a small girl," he said, touching her chin and raising it so that she looked at him face to face. "Such intelligence and such beauty for such a young child. Something tells me you're far from some ordinary street urchin, Miss Jade."  
  
He stood up and faced her, not using his hands to stand, which Buttercup found extremely impressive. He helped her up onto her feet, and fell back into a basic fighting stance, the monk's robe he was wearing stripped off and thrown to the side to reveal..  
  
'A gi.. an actual karate gi- I'll be training with a real master-' Buttercup thought to herself. 'I'll have to be real careful, otherwise he'll figure out that I'm not exactly a run of the mill human child.'  
  
"What's that?" She asked, hoping playing dumb would work to her advantage in hiding her knowledge.  
  
"It's a training gi. It helps keep me mobile. I trust you like the clothes I sent you?" Buttercup glanced down at her clothes.  
  
"Y.. You sent these to me?" she asked, looking shocked at Brother Mark. She glanced downward at her green tunic and breeches, only now realizing exactly how free she felt in them- they were comfortable, but they didn't hinder her movement in any way. She looked up at him and grinned.   
  
"They're very nice, thank you," she replied.  
  
"Well, Miss Jade, I think it's time that we got started. How about we see what you know."  
  
Buttercup tried to show worry on her face, only to see Brother Mark laugh.   
  
"I don't expect you to be as good as me. I only wish to see how fast your reaction timing is, how easily you can dodge out of the way, simple things that any child should know. I also wish to test you for your hand to eye and feet coordination. Such a thing is important for becoming proficient in the art."  
  
"Oh.. okay.." Buttercup stammered, the sweat really dropping off her forehead. Playing dumb was going to be much harder than she thought. She stood up and looked at the fighter expectantly.  
  
Brother Mark came after her with a simple middle punch, which Buttercup dodged quickly. After that came a low kick that she jumped over and a low punch that she ran away from. The martial artist laughed.  
  
"Come on, Jade Raven- try and attack me. You can't win if you keep running away."  
  
Buttercup's anger flared at that.. she checked it just in time. Feeling a bit snubbed, she fell back into a simple fighting stance and then rushed out to kick the martial artist. When her leg was about to land on his solarplexes, Buttercup realized that Brother Mark was no longer there. He waved from the other side of the room.  
  
Her anger could no longer be contained. Pushing up her sleeves so they wouldn't hinder her at all, Buttercup let her anger take her over. She rushed at the martial artist, barely missing him by a few seconds. Brother Mark appeared thoughtful.  
  
'Where did this come from? Does her anger fuel a fighting edge she wouldn't have had before?'  
  
He attacked her with an elbow strike, only to find that she had both her hands up in a rudimentary high cross block, then attacked her side only to find a crude low block keeping him from attacking.  
  
'What is she hiding?'  
  
Their dance continued, with Buttercup rushing against the tide of the fight and giving all her might into a jump high axe kick, which the martial artist did not dodge, but caught her foot in mid-kick. He was surprised to find out how light she was. It was almost as if she'd mastered the legendary technique of flying.  
  
He attacked her from the back, the front, the side, each strike adding a bit more of his power to. He was working up a light sweat, he noticed, and whenever she'd cross him in mid-air or mid-strike, he'd swear he'd see a gleam of something unearthly in her anger. Whatever this girl was, she was anything but ignorant about fighting.  
  
Finally, Brother Mark released a slightly more advanced attack to the side of the neck- something finally caught her off guard, and she fell to the ground. She cried out and tears came out of the corners of her eyes..  
  
'There's no one here I know.. I can cry now.. I can cry..' Buttercup thought to herself as she fell hard to the ground, her entire body crying out for a rest from this ceaseless agony that Brother Mark had taken against her.  
  
She'd been using most of her actual strength, minus her being able to fly.. except for when he'd grabbed her ankle. Her instincts had almost taken over then. But except for flying, Buttercup realized that she'd been using most of her upper strength, and had nothing on reserves.  
  
This Brother was truly good. Very good. And Buttercup could learn a lot from him.  
  
After watching Jade fight, Brother Mark had gone once again to the middle of his dojang and sat down, his thoughts mingling as he meditated once more.  
  
'She's extremely strong for a child- especially one so small and frail-looking. You'd never guess that she'd be capable of what she did just then. Perhaps she had some rudimentary street fight training. But that wouldn't account for the strength of her attacks.'  
  
He pondered this more, and waited until Buttercup's cries subsided to go over and help her up from the ground. She looked deep into his eyes, her own puffy from crying. He laid a hand on her young shoulder, and smiled.  
  
"I think we're going to have lots of fun, Miss Jade Raven. I have much to teach you, and you already seem to have some basics. I will see you tomorrow morning at the same time. Good day and God bless." With that, he walked in the opposite direction from Buttercup, towards the other side of the room. Buttercup turned to find the training door open, Brother Peter standing on the other side.  
  
"So? How did you do?" he inquired as she walked out of the room. Buttercup looked at him strangely.   
  
"Okay.. I think," she said, and walked back to her room, Brother Peter trailing.   
  
As they kept walking, Brother Peter shook his head, smiling. Jade definately was something else.  
  
*********************************  
  
Brother Mark sat contemplating, being as serious as possible about the situation. After fighting Miss 'Jade Raven' he'd been having some serious doubts about the name she'd given.. it didn't seem to fit her, as every time he called it, she'd get an empty look in her eyes before she would answer.  
  
The former shio-lin monk had an idea, but the thought was too fantastic to believe. No way that could have happened. Sure, she'd been in the news lately, but..  
  
There was no way possible. Townsville was just too far, and Jade hadn't shown any evidence of being able to fly, melt things with her eyes, or make that special tornado thing that the Powerpuff girls seemed to be able to do.  
  
As he sat there before his desk, Brother Mark pondered.  
  
Was there any way that Miss Jade Raven could be Buttercup Utonium?  
  
****************************************  
  
(to be continued- please review!) 


	5. Figured Identity

*gets on hands and knees and thanks readers*   
  
Thank you! I just started college this year- and that can mean a lot of different things- in my case... no time to really work on this or my other ficcies. But do not fear, for I plan to make this up to you all by updating and getting this up before Christmas! *^_^* In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter as you have the others, and PLEASE review! *^^*  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Bubbles Utonium! Pay attention!" Miss Keane slightly admonished the blue-clad young girl, who had been staring out the window for what seemed eons. The blonde turned to face the kindergarten teacher with an expression that nearly moved the teacher to tears right there.   
  
"Ye-Yes, Miss Keane," Bubbles responded, then sat forward, her hands on her desk, paying attention to the teacher. Miss Keane, being the noticing young woman that she was, saw that Blossom had been concentrating on her for the past half hour with what seemed like a frantic hunger.   
  
Neither was obviously dealing well with the loss of their sister, then. Feigning a grin, the teacher smiled and tapped her ruler to the board once more. She'd have to have a talk with Professor Utonium while the girls were out at recess. There was no way that this could be allowed to continue... it was breaking her heart to watch.  
  
"Well, as I was saying, today we're going over the primary and secondary colors in the rainbow." The teacher held out a chart comprised of circles and triangles, three linked then pointing to another circle outside of the main triangle.   
  
"Now, we have three main primary colors. These are..." She smiled and pointed at each, "Yellow, Blue, and Red. Can you repeat those for me, class?"  
  
"Yellow, Blue, and Red," the class unanimously answered, save for a certain blonde child. Miss Keane noticed that the girl had gone back to staring out the window. Blossom, on the other hand... had written down the entire diagram, and was looking at Miss Keane expectantly. She smiled once again.  
  
"Now, class, these colors can be combined. Red and Blue make... can anyone tell me?" She said, pointing at the color. A hand quickly raised itself. Miss Keane slightly sighed, then called on Blossom. "Yes, Blossom?"  
  
"The color you are now referring to would be known as violet, more commonly known as purple."  
  
"Very... good, Blossom. Now, this color is combined when Red and Yellow are mixed. What is this color, class?"  
  
The same hand shot up into the air. Miss Keane smiled politely, then asked, "Does anyone besides Blossom know?" Another hand up, Blossom waving both her hands with extreme... manic excitedness. The teacher sighed. "Blossom?"  
  
"That color would be known as orange. In the computer language known as HTML, that color could be identified by the digits 0-"  
  
"That's enough, Blossom, thank you," Miss Keane said, rubbing her temples. "And now, class, the final test." She pointed towards another circle. "This color is made when yellow and blue are mixed. Can anyone tell me what it is?"  
  
Suddenly the blue-dressed girl spoke up softly before Miss Keane could even speak.  
  
"That's green... that's Buttercup's color..."  
  
"That's correct, Bubbles," Miss Keane said encouragingly. She looked at the two of them, Bubble's sad face eating away at her heartstrings. "Now, class, I know it's early, but..." she winked at them and smiled, "I think you all did so well today that you deserve an early dismissal to recess. What do you say?"  
  
The entire kindergarten class cheered and rushed from their seats, save for Bubbles, who dejectedly stalked over to the door. Blossom, on the other hand, was already out the door, reciting aloud from Beowolf. The teacher sighed and shook her head. She had to talk to him. Now.  
  
****************************************************  
  
Professor Utonium sat alone in his laboratory, looking at all his research and machines. What good were they all when they couldn't even locate his own daughter? He looked at his newest trial, a scanner to try and find traces of Chemical X within a thirty mile radius. The scanner hadn't even picked up a trace save for Bubbles and Blossom... the two he still had left.   
  
Letting out a sigh, the man of science stood up and looked around. That deal the Townsville science department had offered him on a research job was sounding better and better all the time. Although being a scientist was a great job... it didn't always pay the bills. Plus, the girls would be out of kindergarten soon, and he'd have nothing to do if he didn't widen his own horizons...  
  
Horizons...   
  
"I hope she's okay," he said aloud, thinking of his toughest little girl. "What am I saying? Of course she's okay, she's... my tough little Butter...cup."  
  
Suddenly the phone rang directly behind him, startling the man into jumping from his seat. He turned around and sifted through parts and papers alike to find the crying piece of technology, then picked it up off its holder.  
  
"Hello? Professor Utonium speaking..."  
  
A muffled sigh, then a voice spoke on the other end. "Hello, Professor Utonium, this is Miss Keane? Your children's kindergarten teacher?"  
  
The scientist jumped from his seat. "What? Why are you calling? Are they okay? Did Buttercup suddenly show up? Why-"  
  
"No, I'm afraid that Buttercup... did not return, Professor," the woman responded, her voice tight on the other end. "What I'm calling about is your other two children, Blossom and Bubbles. Tell me... have you told them yet?"  
  
"You mean the thing that every parent dreads telling their children?"  
  
"I wouldn't know what that would be, Professor," the woman responded after a pregnant pause, "but I'm assuming that it means you told them... that their sister won't be... coming back? That everyone's exausted their efforts...?"  
  
A sigh responded to her, then the sound of someone rubbing sandpaperish chin. "I- I just did last night, yes. Is... Are they all right?"  
  
A pause. "Well, if you mean their physical health, and their schoolwork... that's fine. But your daughters' mental health... Professor Utonium, I would advise you to do something quickly. Your daughter Blossom has become nearly manic in her attempts to study-"  
  
"She told me that if she'd only known more about the human condition... about the world... then she wouldn't have sent Buttercup away, or would have known how to save her," Utonium responded.  
  
"Your other daughter almost seems lethargic in manner... she only seems to respond if it has something to do with her sister."  
  
Another pause. "What should I- I don't know what to do here, Miss Keane- I... there's no damn parenting guide to this, and even if there was- they're not normal little girls! I-I can only do what I can do, and that's love them and be the best father I can... even if I was a failure to their sister."  
  
"Now Professor, it wasn't entirely your fault," a hasty voice calmed from the other end of the wire. "I-if I hadn't gotten sick-"  
  
"That wasn't the issue, Miss Keane," the scientist responded thickly. "It was... I was a failure to her... and I just... just as I'm failing Blossom and Bubbles right now... Oh God..." More sandpaperish noises came from the backdrop, then finally the somber sound of silence.   
  
"Professor- If I may... if this isn't too forward... may I suggest that you... that you SNAP OUT OF IT?" The schoolteacher nearly belted on her end. "You still have two daughters to worry about HERE. All the crying in the world isn't going to bring your other one back... and I'm not sure you'd want to have her back if she truly ran away because of you. She may be young..." An intake of breath, "but she surely knows herself, and that's more than anyone can ask for at any age."  
  
"You're... you're right. I've been so busy trying to find my other daughter... who doesn't want me... that I've neglected the two children I have right in front of me. I'll-I'll talk to them whenever they come home tonight."  
  
"See that you do, Professor," the teacher slightly huffed on her end. "Not only are their well-beings depending on you... but the town is depending on their well-being. If we don't have them to protect us..." Another pause. "But I'd be more concerned about their well-being right now."  
  
"I will. And Miss Keane-" The Professor closed his eyes. "Thank you. You have no idea how nice it was to talk to another adult on this matter."  
  
"Glad I could help. Now do your job as a parent," the woman said before leaving the scientist staring at the reciever before hanging it back up. He looked at all his machines of work, realizing how much effort he'd put into each and every one of them, to find his raven-haired daughter.  
  
And how they were completely and utterly useless at this point. Wherever his daughter was... He intook a breath. Either she was beyond his help... he clutched at his chest, praying that it had been gently done if that had indeed been the case, or... she didn't want to come back. She HAD run away from him... and he was her daughter. She may not be the intellectual that her sister was, but she had been bourne of the same 'genes' per say... and that still meant that she was fairly more intelligent than the average child.   
  
He stood up and looked at his machines, then made the hardest decision in his life. If he wanted to be able to help his children move on... the ones he had left... he had to clear his life, his heart, and his mind from the hope of her ever returning.  
  
If she ever did return... well, then he'd deal with it at the time. At the moment, he'd give anything for her to return, to hug his daughter and tell her how much he'd missed her... but time could change some things, he was wise enough to know that... and looking at how she'd affected her sisters years from now... he only hoped that he wasn't a bitter old man by then.  
  
He picked up the metal and machine and opened a nearby closet door, placing them inside.   
  
"It's time... to go forward. Buttercup, please... forgive me," he whispered, closing the door and locking it. Glancing back at it before trudging up the stairs towards his living room, he felt a tug at his heart, dangerously close to breaking it. With a deep swallow, he continued his journey up to the living room.  
  
He still had two daughters... he still had them...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Now, left," Brother Mark instructed the small raven-haired 'Jade Raven', his apt pupil copying the moves with nearly computer-accurate precision. Today was the day after her intial testing, and Brother Mark could not have been more happy had she been the Buttercup Utonium that he suspected her to be...  
  
No. That was not to be worried about. If she was... she would have to admit it. And for right now, she was only a pupil under a teacher, learning how to defend herself.  
  
"No, no, NO!" he corrected her as Buttercup tried to perform the high palm-strike block she'd just been taught, only to over-compensate and fall... onto her face.   
  
"But- but I never-"  
  
"You never what, Miss Raven?" The former shio-lin monk queried, his eyebrows raised in question. "I do believe yesterday we'd already placed it down as a fact that you had never done martial arts. So, why are you questioning it?"  
  
'I have to watch out for him,' the little five year old thought to herself, picking herself up off the bottom of the dojang and looking deeply into his unreadable expression.   
  
"I... I don't know."  
  
"You don't know?" The monk asked, his tone questioning. "Are you... sure?"  
  
"Yes." A pouting face followed the answer.  
  
The monk smiled, then walked over, raising his hand towards her. Buttercup looked at the hand in slight fear, thinking this was a test. As he drew closer, she tensed, her hands balling into tight fists. He reached closer, and she shut her eyes...   
  
Only to feel a hand ruffling her black hair. "You did very well today, Miss Raven. I believe our lesson is done for today. You should now go and fetch Brother Peter and tell him that it is time that you learn where the bath houses are."  
  
Buttercup gave the man a questioning glance.   
  
"You reek, to put it mildly."  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Off you are, now," The monk said, pointing towards the door. When Buttercup turned to look at the monk, she only saw him sitting once more as he had when she'd first encountered him, only this time his hands were folded and in front of him, his head bowed. Tilting her head in question, Buttercup shook her head. Perhaps Brother Peter could explain it...  
  
Walking down the hallway, after first shutting the door *quietly* behind her, Buttercup searched her way towards Peter's room, retracing her steps from his quarters the previous day.   
  
Finally she happened upon a small room whose markings indeed, stated, that 'Brother Peter resides here'. Shaking her head at the obviousness of it, and its simplicitness, she knocked on the door, then turned the knob once she heard a call stating, "Come in!"  
  
She walked in to witness the monk sitting at a desk, scouring over a large brown book, another book nearby. He turned and smiled after a moment of last-minute writing. As he turned, Buttercup noticed that there was a newspaper sitting on his bed, the title reading, 'NO HOPE LEFT IN THE SEARCH FOR BUTTERCUP UTONIUM.' The raven-haired girl hided a quick gulp, swallowing it as the man turned around.  
  
"Raven!" He smiled, standing up and holding out his arms. The girl grinned and ran towards him, giving him a hug. She looked up at him, smiling as she directed his attention away from the newspaper. Suddenly, it occured to her to ask him about it... to find out exactly if he suspected her.  
  
"Brother Peter... um... I just wanted to know, what's that?" she asked, pointing directly towards the newspaper.   
  
"Huh?" He looked at it, then back at her, holding a finger to his lips. "Can you keep a secret, Jade?"  
  
Buttercup nodded.   
  
"I'm not supposed to have things like that here. That's a newspaper. I brought it here because I promised it to Brother Issac. He wasn't always a monk, and the Townsville Townies are his favorite baseball team. So... I brought it here so he could see the scores." He winked at the young girl, then looked back at the paper.  
  
Buttercup gave him a confused glance. "What do you mean you're not allowed to have things like that here?"  
  
"Well... it's more a formality than anything else, since a lot of other monestaries are now 'up to date'... but we stick pretty formally to it. You see, the only written things we're supposed to have here consist of anything related to that-" he pointed at the brown book still laid out on his desk, "book."  
  
"What is that book?"  
  
Brother Peter gave the girl a piercing look at Buttercup squeamishly tried to avoid. The moment disappeared as he picked her up and sat her on his knee as he sat himself down.  
  
"Well, it's a very important book to us here. It has a lot of different nicknames... some of them are the good book, the ONLY book, the history of the world... but none of them sums it up as best as its real name. The holy bible."  
  
"The bible?"  
  
Another questioning glance. "You-you've never heard of it?"  
  
Buttercup shook her head. "I-I never heard of it where I came from."  
  
Brother Peter then set her back down on the floor and stood up, then looked down at her. "I think I'll let Brother Issac explain it to you. I would, but... it would be better if you learn its history first before you learn its meaning." He smiled, then changed the subject, looking down at her.   
  
"What did you come down to see me about, anyways, little Raven?"  
  
"Brother Mark said that you should show me where the baths are."  
  
The monk smiled at her, then pointed towards the doorway. "Well, if that's all, I'd be happy to show you. You-you CAN bathe by yourself, can't you?" He asked, his cheeks slightly turning red.  
  
"Yeah..." Buttercup said, her look questioning. "Why?"  
  
"I just don't know children that well, and I always thought that mothers bathed their children until... well, I didn't know what age, so I thought I would ask." Buttercup looked to the ground, her tone slightly soft as something occured to her.  
  
"I-I never had a mother," she whispered, and followed the monk, whose voice suddenly became non-existent, stopping only to explain where the amenities were and how the baths themselves worked. Once that had been done, he showed her to the baths, then walked away after leaving a note on the door for the other brothers.   
  
As he walked, his thoughts became more and more feverish, and his pace more quickened. He finally stopped his walk at the door to Brother Issac's room, knocking twice before entering. A call to enter replied just as Brother Peter entered.  
  
"You young ones. Impatient as always."  
  
"Is Brother Mark here?"  
  
"That I am," the other monk said from a corner, inspecting a book that had been up at the top of Brother Issac's shelf. "We were not waiting long. I assume that she is right now bathing?"  
  
The youngest, Peter, nodded. "That's right."  
  
Issac looked at the two gentlemen, then sat down in a nearby wooden seat. "Well?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure, Brother," Peter said. "The newspaper definately triggered a reaction. Also, there was the matter of the bible, which I did not expect- she didn't know what a bible was."  
  
"She didn't, hmmm?" Issac said, scratching the bottom of his chin. "That would make sense. The reports have stated that her father is a professor of science, which would mean that there would most likely be no such material in that household." The oldest looked at Brother Mark. "And you, Brother?"  
  
"She is no ordinary child, that much I can tell you," he said, placing the book back on the shelf. "Also, I have noticed that she is holding herself back. She is already unbelievably strong... and the way she fights... there is no question in my mind."  
  
"So, we have all come to the conclusion that Miss 'Jade'," Peter said, looking at the other two monks, "Is actually Miss Buttercup Utonium?"  
  
"That would be my best guess," Brother Issac said, looking up from his sitting place. "The question is, now that we know, what does that mean to us?"  
  
"Well... shouldn't we return her to her family? I mean, they ARE looking for her, and she did lie to us-"  
  
"Remember what you told me in confidence, Brother," Mark stated. "She indeed said that she had no home to return to. Even if she is the daughter of that Professor... Utonium, and she has a family, why would she state such a thing unless she had purpose in her statement?"  
  
Issac raised a finger to his mouth. "Most likely due to either bad circumstances in the home," he said, looking at the other two men, on whom the hidden meaning was not lost, "or... she truly believes herself to be this new persona, and has temporary amnesia."  
  
"I don't think it's the latter," Mark stated simply. "Especially by the way she acts in her combative techniques."  
  
"Then what do we do?" Peter asked simply. "Do we take her home, or...?"  
  
"I do not think we should," Issac said, taking his finger away from his mouth. "If it is NOT amnesia, then obviously something was going on that was so severe that a five year old would run away from it. She seems to like it here well enough, and-"  
  
"Wait a minute. You're saying that we should just act as if we don't know this?" Peter said, his voice slightly shaken.  
  
"Yes," Mark said, facing the youngest monk. "If it is as Issac has stated, and not amnesia... then we may play dumb and believe that she is actually the 'Jade Raven'. The only way we would change that would be if she herself told us. I concur with Issac in that no five year old would run this far away from home without good purpose. Usually, as I recall, five year olds usually only get a block before heading home."  
  
Peter looked at the ground, then back at the two monks. "So, from this day forward, she is no longer Buttercup Utonium?"  
  
"Who is that?" Issac played, his glasses tinting as he looked at Peter. "We only know a small child by the name of Jade Raven."  
  
"I understand," Peter said, catching on. He looked over at Mark, who nodded in concurrence. "Then, my brothers, I must take leave of you. Miss Raven will be finishing her first of ten years' worth of baths, and I believe I must get her ready for her first study session with you," he nodded towards Issac. With that, the monk headed out the door, leaving behind Mark and Issac, the older suddenly standing up and straightening his room to rights.  
  
"Ten years to train a child like that-" Mark started, then looked at Issac. "I believe I shall have some... pleasure in this."  
  
"As will I," Issac stated, smiling. "I haven't had a pupil yet with such a nimble mind. I almost would hope that she isn't lying to us, that she would be this Raven girl so that she could not worry about having to face her past ever again."  
  
"Face her past?" Mark said, looking at him.  
  
"She has to return to Townsville in ten years for the simple fact that she is a girl and that is all the time that God alloted us to have her. In that time... we must prepare her for her journey back to Townsville."  
  
"I understand," the former shio-lin said, leaving the room to Brother Issac. The wizened man smiled, waiting for his newest pupil. Young minds were so fresh and open...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Blossom, Bubbles..." Professor Utonium stated, looking at his two girls. "I-I came directly from school and brought you home because I-I need to talk to you about your sister."  
  
Bubbles looked about ready to cry, then sniffled. She nodded, looking into the scientist's face, her sister already intently staring.   
  
"It's... hard for me to say this, but I have to so that both of you will grow up and get past this: Your sister is not coming back."  
  
"You told us that, Professor-" Blossom started, only to be cut off by a raised hand.  
  
"I know I told you that, Blossom, but I don't think you or your sister really understood me. SHE IS NOT COMING BACK. At all. And in order to move on... we have to learn to live without her."  
  
"What?" Bubbles said, her five year old head snapping upward. "Live... without Buttercup? But... but..." the girl started to cry, followed by sniffles from her sister. Professor Utonium was not immune to this, and he kneeled down, holding his two children.  
  
"I know I told you both not to give up, to be strong about this... but the truth is," he said, tears in his eyes, "She's not coming back, and we have to- we have to accept that," he said, finally giving into his own sorrow and letting the tears stream down his face. Blossom and Bubbles both jumped into his arms and cried.   
  
The man looked up, past his ceiling, towards the sky unseen. His words, although not heard by his children, as they were from the heart, yelled towards its blue majesty.  
  
"Please, God... someday, I don't care how... let me see her again..."  
  
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End chappie 5! I promise, promise a quicker update on this one- I do have a month now, you know! ^_~ Another note: The next chapter will be set 10 years after this chapter. I will remind readers, but just to  
  
let you know what to expect. And as always, R&R!! *^_^* 


	6. Future Planned

A/N: Thank you, thank you! *^_^* *bows deeply to readers* Okay, I know that there have been a few questions/comments about my story so far. Hopefully I can answer them! ^^  
  
The reference to there being no bible in Professor Utonium's household: I understand that just because he was a scientist doesn't mean that he didn't know/believe in the bible. However, I'm basing my statements here on the fact that number 1, he never has shown any interest in religion around his daughters from the show (which, he couldn't, as we all know the PC rules of television), and number 2, his daughters ARE only five years old, just 'born', and perhaps just haven't been exposed to it yet. It also helped me advance the plot and be another reason that the monks could piece together her identity.  
  
*bows* I hope that explains my reasoning with the entire bible thing, as I know a few of you had questions about it. Obviously, the question of religion would come up as Buttercup is living in a monastary, and I had to deal with it somehow. *^^*  
  
ANYWAYS, enough ranting. This chapter takes place 10 years after the previous chapter. This would make the girls each 15 years old, just to restate the fact so that no one is confused. *^^*   
  
Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter just as much as previous ones, and I'm very happy to hear that you all are enjoying reading this just as much as I am writing it! *^^* Onto the ficcy!  
  
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"Now high!" An aged Brother Mark stated to his willing pupil, who held an oaken staff within her hands, complying with his order by twisting her hands so that the correct attack could be performed. Her fingers performed the task effortlessly, as if they had been honed to do this their whole life.  
  
"Again!"  
  
Another attack was executed, the pupil once again complying with computer-like precision.   
  
"Again!"  
  
The student continued her movements, executing each attack with the same drilled precision. Finally, after what seemed eons of time passed by, the instructor held out his hand to his pupil, and the young woman stopped her exercise, first pulling herself back into a ready stance, then bowing to the instructor.   
  
"That's enough for today. You're excused."  
  
"Thank you," the young woman replied, placing her tool of weaponry against the nearby wooden wall. She looked back at the monk with her deep emerald eyes and pulled her face into a grin. "Same time tomorrow?"  
  
"We'll see," is all the brother said, a slight grin on his face. "We'll see. Now, off to the baths with you! I swear, female or not, you stink as much as some of my male students have! Off with you!"  
  
The young woman smiled, then rushed forward to give her instructor a brief hug before exiting the room. "You only say that because you're jealous of my ability to 'stink up', as you so eloquently put it," she responded, then turned tail and left, black hair swaying as she walked out.  
  
"Tomorrow comes too soon, Miss Raven," the monk responded to the air as she exited the dojang. "And the day after tomorrow, you will leave us for good. I only hope your path will be easier to walk with what I have taught you." Sighing, the older monk sat down on the carpeted area of his floor and meditated, the subjects his apprentice and the future awaiting her.   
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Buttercup Utonium, now known as the energetic young woman Jade Raven, walked down the hallway with a smirk on her face. She had done well, today, she knew it. If she hadn't, Brother Mark would have given her another hundred push-ups worth of punishment, and he hadn't. Either she had been very good today... or his mind had been elsewhere.  
  
She smiled. It had to be the former.  
  
Hard to believe though it was true, ten years had passed since the former heroine had been taken in by these simple walls of stone. A decade had toned her limbs into a strong young woman's, her feminine curves added not long ago. Her raven mane was now bound into a stringent braid that ran down to the small of her back, although raven strands escaped near her tanned brow. Behind those wayward tresses hid a pair of deep emerald eyes that reflected an intelligence and strength untapped.  
  
The young woman's clothing tastes, unlike her looks, had not changed over the years, still thriving in the plain clothes the monastary provided her. The only real difference had been the undergarments that the monks had improvised for her, cloth bands providing for her blossoming chest and plain underclothes for her other needs in modesty. Her growth in height appeared to have slowed, although Brother Peter often told her that there was always hope for another inch or two to grow, her slightly shorter stature of five feet and three inches bothering her sometimes.   
  
The former superhero's memories of her life before the monastary were just as crisp in her memory. However, years of warm, loving surroundings and well-intentioned support had worn away her fears of being alone, her midnight nightmares of rejection. The young woman that now walked down the hallway towards the bathhouse was as strong as the monks had hoped she'd become, in mind, body, and soul alike.   
  
She stopped to glance at Brother Peter's door before continuing her journey towards the facilities for cleaning, something striking her as off about today. His normally closed door was slightly ajar, and paperwork could be seen mounted on the inside of the room atop his desk, at which the monk was furiously working.   
  
Figuring it was something to ask him about later, Buttercup continued towards the bathhouse, stretching her arms in front of her. Good job or not, the workout Brother Mark had given her had still worked her muscles into a good sweat. This bath was going to feel so good...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Father Andrew sat regarding the slightly aged Brother Peter. Years of being at the monastary seemed to have increased the wisdom in his eyes, yet... there was still a child-like twinkle in them. The father smiled, clearing his throat to speak. It had to have come from having Jade here.  
  
"So. Ten years have come and gone, correct, Brother Peter?"  
  
The younger monk smiled and looked at the other man. "Yes, yes, you would be correct. Ten years... has it really been that long? It seems like yesterday that-"  
  
"You remember what I said ten years ago about Miss Raven staying here, don't you?"  
  
A slight pause. "Yes, I do. And myself and the other brothers have set about in preparation for this day for quite some time. Brother Abraham has already completed an entire wardrobe for her. Brother Issac says that the tests for Morgan's Institute came back with flying results, and Brother Mark has said that he has pretty much taught the girl all he can."  
  
"And you? What have you taught her?"  
  
Another pause. "I've been there whenever she sniffled or cried during the night. I was there to wish away childhood fears that she wouldn't tell me of... I helped bring her into the faith, explaining our livelihood and why it is so important to the world. I did... everything I could. Had I been a father to this child... which I sometimes wish I could claim, I would say that she has grown beyond our expectations."  
  
"I see." The elder monk regarded the younger with a slight smile. "I know this will be hard on you... it will be hard on us all," he said, looking towards the ceiling. "However. The matter still remains that we have taught her all we can. She still needs to learn how to survive in the world outside these walls. She needs to learn of the opposite sex-"  
  
"But she's-" Brother Peter stopped a moment, then nodded. He'd noticed, after remembering, the wistful looks that young Jade had given some of the teenage initiate monks. Those may have been passing fancies, but there was no doubt that she had grown in all the manners a young woman... needed to.  
  
Father Andrew smiled. "You see? We've raised her as well as we can, and she's been a joy to us... but you see, we've taught her all we can. This is what I predicted would happen ten years ago... and you know I'm right."  
  
"Yes, father," Peter said. "It's just... it's so hard to let go. I still remember when she came here, clutching that small stuffed alligator to her chest..."  
  
"As do we all. As do we all," the man responded, then looked at Peter with an unreadableg expression. "You must tell her today, as tomorrow she is to be escorted to her new school."  
  
Brother Peter stood up, and smiled at the Father. "Thank you... thank you so much for allowing us to take her in. It's... really meant a lot to me, and the others, to have her here."  
  
"I understand, brother," Andrew responded, standing up himself and looking out from the window in his office towards the outer bank covered with grass. "May God go with her. You are dismissed."  
  
"Thank you," Brother Peter responded, turning and walking out the door. Today he would tell Jade that she had to leave, his heart slightly heavy at the thought. And yet... he smiled. Even losing her was a triumph, for it meant that they'd raised her well enough to be all right in the outside world.  
  
Jade would be all right. Of that he was sure. However, that didn't mean that Buttercup Utonium would be okay...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Cogito ergo sum," the raven-haired girl responded to Brother Issac's query of the latin proverb. Her bath an hour ago had done for her body what the older monk's questions were doing for her mind now- refreshing it to the point of feeling clean.  
  
"That's correct," the monk said, turning away from the girl and going to sit at his desk, facing her. His expression was that of sad joy. Emerald eyes looked up at him, questioning.   
  
"Brother Issac, wha-?" She started, only to hear the door opening behind her to reveal two other people entering, Brothers Peter and Mark striding to where the eldest monk sat at his desk.  
  
"Jade," Brother Issac started when the two men had settled themselves into place, "Do you know what day it is today?"  
  
The young woman thought a moment, then shook her head.  
  
Brother Issac smiled. "I'm not surprised. We don't exactly keep dates here. However, that is unimportant. Today is the ten-year anniversary of your arrival here with us." He smiled at Jade, his expression mirrored by Peter, a solemn face instead by Mark.  
  
"It.. it is?" Buttercup asked.  
  
"Yes, it is," Brother Peter said, looking uncomfortable. "And while your stay here has been wonderful, Jade... some good things must come to an end."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
The monks looked between each other, slightly uncomfortable. Issac took up the reins, speaking. "What it means, Jade, is that it's time for you to go out into the world."  
  
"I don't understand... you're... you're making me leave?" The teen's eyes grew wide, her expression one of sadness. "But- I thought you all loved me and wanted me here- why-it's too soon!"  
  
  
  
Brother Mark interjected. "We've taught you all that we can, myself included. The attack you were practicing today is one that I myself did not learn until my final years of being a shio-lin. Although it may not seem it to you right now, Jade, you have... outgrown us."  
  
Buttercup sat and regarded what she had heard. A moment passed in silence as what they had said sunk in. She looked up at them, her throat tight as she tried not to cry. "Where... where will I go?"  
  
Brother Issac cleared his throat. "The tests I had you take about two months ago," he started, "were entrance exams for Morgan's Institute, a prestigious high school that resides on the outer limits of a nearby city called Townsville."  
  
The name hit the raven-haired girl hard. "T-Townsville?"  
  
Brother Issac continued. "You did so well on the exams that they accepted you with full scholarship. That's quite an achievement," he added gently. "You will be residing on-campus at one of their boarding facilities. Once you have graduated, you can do pretty much anything you wish- be it college, business, opening your own martial arts academy..." he said, glancing at Brother Mark, who winked at the teenager. "The school will allow you to unlock your dreams and become the woman of greatness that we already can see within you."  
  
"Why- why now?" Buttercup asked, tears coming to her eyes. "Am I not good enough to stay here? What did I...? It can't be time for me to go yet-I'm not ready!" She suddenly felt a comforting arm on her shoulder, Brother Peter standing beside her.   
  
"If we had our way, dear Jade, you would stay here as long as you liked. However, that would be selfish, not allowing you to fufill your own dreams."  
  
"My dream is to stay here!"  
  
"That's what you think it is now," Brother Mark smiled gently. "But once you're in the world outside these walls, you will understand what we are saying."   
  
Buttercup looked down at her desk, Brother Peter's grasp on her shoulder becoming tight. Tears escaped her eyes. After so many years of happiness... after running away from the horrible life that she'd once led, she was being forced to go back there. She looked up at Brother Peter and suddenly felt a wave of shame.  
  
Here they were providing her the best future possible... they'd been teaching her things, helping her, comforting her... all without knowing who she really was. She'd been living a lie this whole time, and she had the audacity to yell at them for doing what they felt was best for her. She suddenly found her voice, and looked at the monks.   
  
"There's... something I need to tell you," she said, her head hung down in shame. "Something that I should have told you a long time ago. I..." she looked up at Brother Peter. "I'm not really Jade Raven. I'm-"  
  
"It's okay, Buttercup," Brother Peter said, smiling down at her.   
  
"Wha-"  
  
"We've known the whole time," Brother Issac said, slightly grinning. "Give us some credit. We figured out who you were about a week after you arrived. Upon figuring out who you were, we weighed the options. We could either return you to the home which you had run from so fearfully... or we could raise you so that you wouldn't have to depend on that past in order to succeed in life. We chose the path we believed best."  
  
"You knew?" Buttercup looked at Brother Mark.  
  
"We knew. It's very hard to hide things from us," he said, smiling. "But heaven knows you tried." He walked forward and kneeled in front of her. "However, this does not change how we feel about you. Jade, Buttercup, whatever your name, we still regard you as our daughter within our hearts."  
  
Buttercup then started to do something that she hadn't done since she was eight. She placed her head in her hands and began to cry... cry for the lie she'd lived with and had not needed to, cry for the hole that was finally filling in her heart, cry... that now she felt complete, she would have to leave this place.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand underneath her chin, and Buttercup turned to look up in wonder at Brother Mark, whose smile was geniunely happy. "Miss Jade, just because you ran away from your past once upon a time does not mean you have to... abandon it. I know you have been itching to the point of insanity to play the superhero."  
  
Buttercup gave the monk a questioning glance. "What... what do you mean?"  
  
Brother Issac, Peter, and Mark exchanged glances, then nodded. Each man retrieved a parcel and placed it in front of Buttercup.  
  
"These are your last gifts from us," Brother Issac said, smiling. "We know how much you have given yourself to us, and how hard you have been struggling these past years to keep your secret. These should help you to regain a bit of what you have lost... and still keep your secret where you are going."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Open them," Brother Issac said, handing Buttercup his parcel. The girl looked at the older man quizzically, then pulled at the paper. When she opened it, the paper lifted back to reveal a body suit made of the softest green material, trimmed with black. A pair of boots were also there, matching the same tapered green.   
  
"Wha-"  
  
Brother Mark nodded towards his gift, Buttercup questioning with a glance before opening. The paper peeled away to reveal a strong oaken staff, tipped with silver on the ends.   
  
Brother Peter's gift was opened to reveal an outer sleeveless cloak and belt, accompanied by a headband that held a centered green jewel.  
  
"I don't understand," she reiterated.  
  
"We know that when you go back to Townsville, the need to save others will overwhelm you," Brother Issac stated. "So, we felt that the best way for you to accomplish this, and not arouse suspicion," he stated, "was to create a new persona for you, in which you could use your abilities without being easily recognized for whom you once were."  
  
Buttercup looked up at the men, then back at the gifts. She spoke, her throat tight. "Does... does this new persona have a name?"  
  
"That it does," Brother Mark responded, his voice gentle, a feat hardly ever heard. "How does Saint Raven suit?"  
  
"Saint... Raven?" Buttercup said, looking back up at the men, thoughtful. "Saint Raven... one who works for a higher cause, but has a... secret."  
  
"We thought it'd suit," Issac offered, smiling. "And I always remembered how much you loved the bird whenever we studied it."  
  
"I love it," Buttercup said, standing up, and going to each man in turn, giving them each a hug. "I... I don't know that I deserve any of this, and I have no way to thank you, after all that I've done..."  
  
"Just do us proud by living your dreams," Brother Peter said, his green eyes shining. The girl looked at them all, and wiped away the tears that were newly forming in her eyes.   
  
"Well, when do I leave?" she asked, trying to keep her composure.   
  
Brothers Issac, Mark, and Peter looked at each other, sad smiles on their faces. "Tomorrow. There will be an escort brought here to accompany you to your school," Peter answered for all three.  
  
"Do you... mind if I have some alone time for a little while? I just-I need to think on a few things, and I-"  
  
"Take all the time you want," Brother Mark said, watching the young woman clutch her newly-recieved packages to her chest and rise to stand. "We'll be around if you need us."   
  
Taking his words as permission, Buttercup strode out of the room, hugging her new possessions to her person as she did. The three men watched as she left, Brother Issac being the first to speak.  
  
"Every journey must have a first step."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Buttercup walked into the quarters that she'd lived in for the past ten years and sat against the wall. Her heart was dangerously close to cracking, as she hadn't expected this at all.  
  
Well, not at all, now that she thought about it. She'd known somewhere, deep down, that she would have to leave eventually. The raven-haired teen placed a hand to her head. They'd even talked about it around her when she'd been younger. But she'd never expected it would happen so soon.  
  
Or that they'd known her true identity for so long.   
  
She glanced in the small mirror that adorned her wall and stared at her reflection. The name Buttercup seemed so foreign, now. It occured to her that this was not a bad thing, because if she ran into either of her sisters, or her father-  
  
Buttercup pushed the thoughts of her former family out of her head. She'd escaped that time long ago, and she was past all of it. But- Raven hair dropped with her head as she looked at the monks' presents. Even though she was no longer 'Buttercup Utonium', they had been right.  
  
The drive to save others was still there, as well as the natural instincts to use her powers. Much as she could fight it, Buttercup Utonium would never be a normal girl, even when her name was Jade Raven.  
  
Standing up, she held the clothes in front of her and stared. They had known, all this time, and still loved her in spite of it. Emerald eyes stared back at her, tears fighting to escape once again. When she blinked, Buttercup swore that she saw an image of a little green-eyed girl staring back at her, accusing.   
  
"I-I had to. If I hadn't run away, I wouldn't be who I wanted to be... I would have been the eternal bad child. I wouldn't have been... me."   
  
The mirage disappeared, and Buttercup swore that she could hear a child's laughter coming from somewhere as she stood there. Smiling, she clutched the outfit to her chest and smiled back through tears.   
  
Her past was gone. And as much as it might try to haunt her whenever she went back... she wouldn't let it. Because she was past all that- hell, she wasn't even named Buttercup Utonium anymore.   
  
Buttercup turned away from her mirror, laying her new gifts on her bed, getting ready to pack them. As far as she was concerned, Buttercup Utonium was dead. There was only Jade Raven now.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Stay strong, Jade," Brother Peter said, enveloping the young woman in a hug. The next day had come all too soon, Buttercup being woken up by the green-eyed monk and reminded of her journey earlier this morning. "Don't forget what you've learned."  
  
"I won't," Buttercup stated, looking towards a door where Father Andrew stood, waiting. He opened it, his hand gesturing towards a black car that awaited her beyond the limits of the monastary grounds. After one last embrace to her former mentors, the young woman accompanied the Father down the hill towards her awaiting escort.  
  
"May God bless her and keep her," Brother Issac murmured. "Hopefully she will find what she is looking for."  
  
"I believe she will," Brother Mark replied, also watching with the eldest monk and Peter as the girl entered the proffered door that a man in a suit held open towards her. With one last meaningful glance towards the monastary, Buttercup entered the car, the door shutting behind her, its tinted windows not revealing her worried expression.   
  
Father Andrew stood as the car pulled away from the confines of the sanctuary. He strolled up towards the hill, nodding at the three Brothers that stood stand-still, watching as the car became a speck of dust on the horizon.  
  
Brother Mark nodded back in response, then smiled. "Yes, I believe she will find what she's looking for..."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
In the city of Townsville, two young women sat at a table, overlooking paperwork that confirmed their near future. Their creator, Professor Utonium, sat nearby reading a paper, his thoughts elsewhere.  
  
"Morgan's Institute," the blonde teen murmured, looking at the brochure one last time. "I still can't believe we were both accepted. I mean, I knew you would be, but I-"  
  
"Of course they'd accept us," the other girl said, a little too quickly. Realizing how snappish it had sounded, she added, "We ARE the Powerpuff Girls, after all... you know, protectors of the city and so forth... the city wants us to get the best education possible. And I know I want to go there, since it's the Professor's alma mater."  
  
Red hair was pushed out of her face as the latter girl smiled overlooking her own copy of the brochure. "Bubbles, did you see all of what this school offers? Top of the line computer labs, their own chemistry wing... oh! And a training facility, complete with martial arts instructors!" Blossom looked at her sister with deep ruby eyes. "Bubbles, we could train there!"  
  
A moment of silence passed, then Bubbles spoke. "Are you sure that appeals to you, Blossom? It sounds like something that Buttercup would have enjoyed more."  
  
Nearby, a newspaper rustled, then was placed on a nearby table, the Professor standing up with his fingers to his temples. He walked by his two daughters, his head slightly down. The Professor found his way to his laboratory, the door clicking shut as he entered. Blossom threw her sister a look of utter hatred.  
  
"WHY did you do that? You know how much it upsets him!"  
  
Bubbles looked out towards the front lawn, her thoughts leading to memories of a black-haired girl who laughed and played with her and her sister. Suddenly the blonde looked at her sister, her eyes deep navy with anger, singing red around the edges.  
  
"How much it upsets HIM? How much it upsets HIM? Blossom, do you even think about her anymore? Do you even feel remorse for what you did anymore? Or have you become so egocentric that you don't even recognize that you had a sister? Or that you STILL have one?" With that, the blonde walked away from the table, leaving the brochure behind in her wake.  
  
"Where are you going?" Blossom asked her sister.  
  
"Out. Anywhere. Nowhere. I don't know," Bubbles said, staring out the window. "You know, Blossom, I wonder what she'd be like if she was still around. I wonder if things would be different." She pierced her sister with a strong glance, sapphire eyes blazing.   
  
"I wonder if WE'D be different. But we'll never know, will we? You made sure of that, ten years ago." With that, the blonde stalked off, her golden tresses swaying slightly as she opened the front door and flew off.   
  
Blossom sat alone at the table, her hands in fists. Damn it, she knew she'd been the one to drive Buttercup to the edge, but... but- The red-haired teen had tears in her eyes. She sat back in her seat and looked at the ceiling.   
  
Things were the way they were. She and her sister were about to embark on a new journey, a new chance. Besides that fact, nothing was going to change in the world around them. A million wishes to bring Buttercup back would do the world no good whenever it was now certain, ten years later, that she had to be dead.   
  
Blossom looked out the window, her eyes turning into slits. Damn Buttercup. Damn her in whatever afterlife she was in. Because of her, she and Bubbles had grown with deep aches in their hearts. And that was something that whenever Blossom met up with her, in that afterlife, she would make sure that Buttercup knew.   
  
Forever.  
  
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*^^* Well, what do you think? :D I hope this chapter lived up to everyone's expectations. It's been hard trying to keep the story flowing at a pace that I like it to be b/c of the time gap... and the next chapter will lead into some *real* action, I promise. ^^   
  
Please R&R! 


	7. Finally Here

A/N: Well, I hope this was a faster update than last time, ne? ^_^ Special thanks to Beta-Reader Byrn *I couldn't do this w/o you buddy!*   
  
I know I promised *action*... the action in this fic is mostly emotional, but the next chapter *IS* going to have some fighting, I promise, cross my heart & hope to die- I've been working on the sequence for months.   
  
Oh, and look for piccies to come up soon. The suggestion for a fanfic inspired pic of Buttercup in front of her mirror was taken seriously by this authoress, and I have it done- it just needs scanned now. ^_~ Plus, I think I have a paint jpg around somewhere... we'll just have to wait until I can find hosting for that one. :D   
  
Onto the ficcy!!!!!!!  
  
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"So, you're going to Morgan's Institute, right?"  
  
The words snapped Buttercup out of her self-imposed silence, as she had been staring out the car's tinted windows towards the monestary that faded in the distance.  
  
"I-yes, I am."  
  
"That's awful nice. I wish I could've gone there- it's supposed to be the school that fulfills your dreams, whatever they be," the driver said. "Me, I weren't smart enough to get in, let alone to pay the   
  
fees."  
  
"Brother Issac said I was going there on full scholarship."  
  
The driver turned his head back a minute and smiled at the girl. "Well, you must be right smart then! I've heard about those scholarship kids- they only give out three of 'em per year."  
  
"Wow," Buttercup murmured. Apparently the school was more prestigious and hard to get into than she'd thought.   
  
"By the way, my name's Travis. You'll be Jade Raven, right?"  
  
"...right," Buttercup said after a moment's pause. Even though the name was second nature to her now, it still seemed slightly... off.  
  
"So you were raised in that monestary? That's cool. Is there anything I can tell you that'll help you about Morgan's? I know I'm just a simple escort'n all, but if I can help..."  
  
Buttercup's eyes blinked, then she bit her lip. Anything that could help, huh...   
  
"What's happened in Townsville that's important lately?"  
  
The driver laughed. "What hasn't? Let's see here. There was the big fiasco dealing with the Gang Green Gang not that long back- those boys have turned into big strapping men, and are now running a mafia of sorts. Every time those Powerpuff girls try to catch'em, they're slippery as hell and get away."   
  
"The Powerpuff girls? The Gang Green Gang?" Buttercup asked, trying to feign ignorance.   
  
"Oh, that's right- you weren't raised there, were ya? Scouting for events so that you aren't ignorant, that's a wise idea," the driver said, turning from the dirt road that he'd been on for the past fifteen minutes.   
  
"Well, the Gang Green Gang were a bunch of lowlife teens who used to cause mayhem out in the open. But it seems as though they've gotten more intelligent now that they're older. They run a mafia so air-tight that the girls can't even get it."  
  
"Oh, wait- I'm ahead of meself. The girls. The Powerpuff girls. Yeah, well, they're superheros, twins to be sure, created by a scientist named Utonium. There used to be three of 'em, but something happened about ten years back to one of'em."  
  
Buttercup stifled a nervous cough.  
  
"Well, right now there's still two of'em. Their names are Blossom and Bubbles, right? Well, they're really powerful girls, that they are. They can fly around, have those laser thingies that come outta their eyes, good girls. They save the city from the beasties and bad guys that attack our good city."  
  
"Are they... nice?" Buttercup queried.  
  
"Aw, I dunno. In public they seem like right angels, but you never really know what a person's like behind the cameras, do ye?"  
  
"Hmm," Buttercup agreed. "So... how much longer before we get to Morgan's?"  
  
The driver looked down at a digital clock that sat in the front of his control board, then nodded back to Buttercup.   
  
"I'd say about half an hour," he told the raven-haired girl. "But don't worry, it'll go by right quick. An' in the mean time, you can see the sights of our good city as we drive by them, hey?"  
  
"Yeah..." Buttercup said, staring out the window. What was she getting herself into now?  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"And if you could put that right there, that'd be great," a red-haired girl said, pushing bangs out of her face as she watched her family's butler move the furniture about her dorm room. She smiled. She didn't know who this Jade Raven girl was, but she hoped she was nice.  
  
"No, no, no- I meant a little to the right!" She squealed to one of the man, running over and directing him towards the right side of the room. "The other half is my roommate's! I wouldn't want to anger her by having my stuff on her side of the room!"  
  
"Yes, Miss," the servant said, obeying as commanded. He finally placed the simple bedstand next to his lady's bed, and stood up, wiping the sweat off his brow.   
  
"Is that everything, then?"  
  
The girl looked about the room, then nodded. "Yes, I think so." She smiled at the servant, then walked over and gave him a hug. "I'm going to miss you, Walter."  
  
"As will I, Miss," the butler said, smiling. "I believe your father is waiting outside then to say his farewells," he pointed out. The girl bobbed a small curtsy to the butler, then ran out of her room and down the stairs to see her father off.  
  
The butler shook his head, then followed at a more leisurely pace. Finally, he came upon the red-haired girl smiling at her father through a tinted window of a limo. She leaned in and kissed the face within. The window then rolled up, leaving Walter and his charge alone for a few moments.  
  
"So, you're going to start school here soon," he said to the girl. She bit her lip, then rushed over and gave the butler a hug.   
  
"I don't know how you put up with me, Walter- I was such a little brat when I was younger- incarcerated in jail at the age of five-"  
  
"Yes, but see what a fine young woman you grew into," the butler said, smiling.   
  
"Only because you honestly cared about me," the girl sniffled into his jacket. "Daddy only gave me money... not love. I understand that now. If he hadn't hired you... I might be somewhere in jail right now."  
  
"That's all in the past, Miss," the butler said, kneeling down and wiping away her tears with the hankerchief from his vest pocket. "Your record's been wiped clean from good behavior, you're starting a new school... don't fret, dearheart. Yes, there may be people here who knew you as you once were," he said, lifting up her chin, "But there will also be the majority who DON'T. Promise me you'll give this place a chance."  
  
"I-I will. For you, Walter."  
  
"That's my girl," the butler said, standing up and straightening up his Mistress's outfit. "Now, you get inside and wait for your roommate... do you have any idea who she is, by the way?"  
  
The girl shook her auburn head. "No idea. The papers only told me that her name was Jade Raven, and that she was one of the scholarship recipients."  
  
"Well, she should be nice then," the butler said, smiling. "And now, my dear, I must be off. Make me proud, my little princess."  
  
"I will, Walter! I will!" The girl exclaimed as she watched the butler enter the driver's seat of her father's limo and pull away. She held a hand to her heart, then turned and walked back to the dormitorial suites.   
  
The Princess was long ago and forgotten. There was only Miss Judy now. She only hoped that old nemesises would know that, as well...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Dad, hurry up!" Bubbles Utonium exclaimed to the Professor. The slightly aged man laughed as his blonde-haired daughter pulled on his hand to get him to hurry up.  
  
"I will, I will- we just have to wait for-"  
  
"Miss Keane, I know, I know," the blonde girl said, shaking her head. "Honestly, dad, you've been dating her for what... three years now? Don't you think you should pop the question already?"  
  
"Bubbles!" Blossom hissed. "The professor will do it in his own time!"  
  
"I'm waiting for the right moment," he said, his eyes closing in thought. All these years later, after the girls had graduated from kindergarten, he'd finally gotten up the courage to ask the kindergarten teacher out on a date... and her presence still made him giddy like a schoolboy.  
  
"DAD! The other students will have been moved in already!" Bubbles whined, floating up and sitting on an empty space of air.  
  
The man laughed. "I'm sure she'll be here in a few minutes, Bubbles. Just hold on here." He reached over and ruffled her hair.  
  
"Daaaad! Now my hair's all messed up!" The blonde said, flying off to find a mirror and fix the mess, her trademark pigtails now slightly lopsided. Professor Utonium laughed. His girls. So grown up when protecting the city... and yet, so child-like about things as simple as hair.  
  
Suddenly a car horn was heard from the driveway, and the man called out to his blonde daughter. "Bubbles, she's here- we can go now!"  
  
"I still don't see the logic in driving," scoffed Blossom. "We're the Powerpuff girls, for goodness' sake. We could have been moved in hours ago- it wouldn't have been that hard for us to lift out all our belongings, fly there and back, and bring you and Miss Keane with us to boot-"  
  
"Blossom," the professor stopped mid-wave to Miss Keane, "I know that you may be a very powerful superhero, who feels that your powers are to be used for every little instance. However, when you go to this school, you'll be surrounded by people who don't know who you are and probably won't care."  
  
"But they should- I'm Blossom Utonium, strategist of the two Powerpuff girls, protectors of the city of Townsville!"  
  
"Blossom," the professor said warningly, "if you want to succeed in this school, you might want to drop that attitude that you've been gaining lately. I see how you lord over your sister-"  
  
"I don't lord over her," the redhead stated. "She's just too stupid sometimes to see what's obvious."  
  
"While that may be, both you AND she were accepted to this school on full scholarship. And I know full well how hard it is to get that award. Whether you will admit it or not, your sister has just as good a head on her shoulders as you."  
  
"Hmmm," was all the girl would respond with.  
  
"Now I know you and she are going to room together at Morgan's for the simple purpose of being able to be on call for Townsville's sake. I want you to try and be more hospitable than you've been to her lately. That outburst you had a few days ago about Buttercup was uncalled for-"  
  
"Hey, am I missing something?" Miss Keane asked, having appeared in front of the Professor and his daughter. The man of science blushed slightly, then gave her a quick kiss on the lips.   
  
"No, nothing much. I was just having a last minute heart-to-heart with Blossom-" the Professor sighed, then called back into the innards of his house, "Bubbles, time to go! You were the one so worried about it earlier!"  
  
"Coming!" The blonde suddenly zapped forward from her place in the back of the house, her wayward pigtails finally fixed. Miss Keane smiled at the blonde.   
  
"Cut her some slack, honey," she told the professor. "A girl's got to fix her hair just right, doesn't she?"  
  
Bubbles threw a grateful glance towards her former kindergarten teacher, then placed herself back on the ground, the air slightly rustling as she landed. "Well, I'm ready to go now!"  
  
"Glad to hear it," the professor said, holding out his hand as if to rough up his daughter's nearly fixed hair- then giving her instead a one-armed hug and a kiss to the forehead. Bubbles gave him a slightly disgruntled look, then giggled.  
  
"Okay, dad, let's go!" The blonde practically skipped off.  
  
"Yes, by all means, let's," Blossom said, stalking off towards the Professor's station wagon.   
  
"What's the matter with her?" Miss Keane asked the professor.  
  
"She's sore about not being 'Miss Special'," the professor said. "I think I've actually gotten good at this parenting thing. If only I'd-"  
  
"Shh..." Miss Keane said, placing a finger to his lips. "No time to worry about the past now, dear. Let's just worry about the car trip for right now."  
  
"Right," the man of science said, smiling. He locked his house door behind him, then strided over towards his car. Today he lost his last two daughters... but at least he could be confident that he knew where they'd be.  
  
Unlike a certain raven-haired child...  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Well, this is it," Travis the escort said, stopping in front of a tall brick building.   
  
"This- this is Morgan's Institute?"  
  
"Yes and no," the driver said. "It'll be the dormitories of the school, but not where you'll be learnin'." With that, he opened his door, and strided over to where Buttercup sat in the back of the black car.  
  
The teen stepped out of the car, holding a hand in front of her face to block out the streaming sunlight that shone past the building's frame.  
  
Travis went about his duties, opening the trunk of the car to pull out a dual set of plain brown suitcases, setting them onto the sidewalk. He shut the trunk, then closed Buttercup's door behind her.  
  
"Where are we supposed to go?" she queried.  
  
The escort pulled out a sheet of paper. "Well, it says you have Room number... 317," he said. "Best get your stuff up there, eh?"  
  
"I... suppose," the girl said, looking around as they entered the dormitory. Numerous other students were on the campus, all their faces unfamiliar and yet... friendly to the eye. Buttercup let a small grin escape.  
  
Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad as she thought...  
  
"Miss Jade?"   
  
Buttercup awoke from her moment of meditation. "Y-yes?"  
  
"This here be your room key," Travis said, holding out a small golden key in his outstretched palm. "Are ye ready to go to your room now?"  
  
"Y-yes," the black-haired girl said, still looking around with some trepidation. She took the key and followed the man.  
  
They entered a nearby elevator, Buttercup looking at the fine artistry that was put into the simple contraption. Murals decorated the inside, the edges inlaid with gold. If their elevators were like this...  
  
"Your floor, Miss Jade," Travis said, holding out an arm towards the elevator door. Buttercup blinked. When had they arrived? She shook her head. It wasn't like her to be this off-guard.  
  
"Right," she said, exiting the elevator, and watching it as it went down. It had been so long since she'd seen a piece of technology...  
  
They walked down the hallway, Travis finally stopping at a door that bore the number '317' proudly in gold inlay, parts of it slightly scratched. Intaking a breath, Buttercup took the key given to her by Travis and placed it into the lock, only to hear a "Wait!" from within.  
  
Puzzled, the black-haired girl pulled her key out of the lock, moments later coming face to face with a sprightly red-haired girl who wore a bright smile.   
  
"He-Hello," Buttercup said, slightly nervous. "Um... who are you?"  
  
The girl giggled. "Your roommate, silly! You're Jade Raven, right?"  
  
"Y-yes..."  
  
"Nice to meet you! My name's Judy!" The girl said, holding out her hand. Her moment of confusement past, Buttercup took it into her own, shaking the girl's hand.  
  
"Well, you already know who I am," she started, only to hear a mild cough behind her. Travis smiled gently, then pointed out the suitcases he still held. "Oh! Just- right in here," she said, going inside the room. Once she stepped inside, Buttercup's jaw dropped.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"I hope you don't mind... I got bored so I decorated my side of the room," the girl said, smiling. Buttercup scratched the back of her head.   
  
The other girl's half of the room was decorated as a palace might be, complete with an entire multimedia center. A flat screened monitor sat on a nearby desk, surrounded by a set of speakers. On the opposite wall a flat television screen hung, at the moment its scenery being a simple cornfield swaying in the wind.  
  
"No, it's okay, I just didn't expect to-"  
  
"That's all you brought?" The girl queried, looking at Buttercup's two suitcases. The raven-haired girl blushed slightly.   
  
"Well, that's all I own."  
  
"That's-" suddenly the red-haired girl got a wide grin on her face. "Well, we're just going to have to fix that. You and I are going on a road trip, Jade, and we're going to get you some decent clothes-"  
  
"There's nothing wrong with my clothes," Buttercup said, looking down at the simplistic garb she wore. "They've worked for me my whole life in the monestary."  
  
"Wow! You lived in a monestary-" the girl started, only to see Travis trying to get Buttercup's attention. The raven haired girl turned and saw Travis standing. He bowed to her.  
  
"Well, I've got to be off, here. You do all right here'n everything, you understand?"  
  
Buttercup giggled. "Yes, sir," she said, giving him a mock salute. With that, the escort left the room, leaving the two girls alone. Suddenly something came to Buttercup, and she gave the red-head an odd look.   
  
"What did you say your name was?"  
  
"Well, it's... Judy. Judy Morbucks. I..."  
  
Buttercup's eyes widened. "You're-you're the Princess-"  
  
"Please, don't tell anyone," the girl asked, standing up with her hands clenched into fists. "I'm- I'm not her anymore. I've changed... I know you probably remember me from the news, trying to destroy the Powerpuff girls-" Buttercup nervously looked down at her feet, "But I wanted to make a fresh start here. I didn't think anyone here would know who I was back then... I didn't know you'd know..."  
  
Buttercup sat down on her bed. She remembered the girl that Judy had been. A spoiled brat who aspired to become one of the Powerpuff girls, she had caused worlds of trouble time and time again. She looked up at the red-haired girl who was giving her a set of pleading eyes.   
  
Suddenly, it hit her. Just as much as she had tried to escape her own past, here was Judy trying to do the same thing. Buttercup stood up and smiled.  
  
"Don't worry. I was just... surprised, that's all. It's not everyday you meet a supervillian."  
  
"Former supervillian," Judy reminded Buttercup. "Like I said, I-I changed from back then."  
  
"Well, that's good," Buttercup said, smiling. "Otherwise I might have to call the Powerpuff girls down here to save me."  
  
"Speaking of which," Judy said, her red hair swaying as placed a finger to her chin, "I heard that they're attending this very school."  
  
"W-what?" Buttercup said, her eyes wide. "They're-they're coming here?" She sat back down on the bed again and bit a nail, something she hadn't done since she was ten.   
  
"Yeah, but don't worry about me," Judy said, smiling. "I've made up my differences with Bubbles- she's the blonde one. The other one doesn't like it, but since there are only two of them... You know how it goes."  
  
"Did the brothers know this?" Buttercup wondered aloud.  
  
"Huh?" Judy turned to look at the raven-haired girl. "What did you say?"  
  
"Nothing," Buttercup said, staring out the window.   
  
"Nothing at all..."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Well, that's all of it," Professor Utonium said, smiling at his two girls. During the car ride, he'd explained the importance of not 'flying everywhere', as he put it.  
  
"If you do that, you're going to alienate some of these people here. Not everyone is comfortable around you- they haven't grown up with you. So please promise me you'll at least try and be normal during the school hours," he'd said.  
  
"Yeah... it took longer than it would have if we'd used our powers," complained Blossom, whose attitude since that talk had not changed a bit.   
  
"Blossom..." the professor warned. The red-head rolled her eyes, then crossed her arms.  
  
"I know, I know." She strolled over and gave her creator a hug, Bubbles seconding that with a more enthusiastic embrace. The professor pushed them both back to stand in front of him.  
  
"My girls. You're both so grown up," he murmured, then looked down at the ground, a silent prayer going out to the third child that should have been present. He regained his composure and coughed, then smiled at his daughters.  
  
"Now mind, you two- I don't want to hear you're slacking off in your studies just because you've met some wonderful boys or such nonsense-"   
  
Bubbles giggled.  
  
The Professor smiled, then reached over to place an arm on Miss Keane's shoulders. "I know you'll do me- us," he corrected, looking at the schoolteacher, "proud. Now remember, call once a week-" he started, seeing the two head off towards their dormatories.  
  
"We will!" Bubbles yelled, stopping to give her dad one last hug, then running to catch up with her sister.   
  
The man of science watched his offspring walk off, tears coming to his eyes.  
  
"They're growing up," Miss Keane said, smiling. "You have to let them go."  
  
"I know," the man said, turning around for one last look before opening the car door for his lady-love. "It's just- I still remember when they were little girls. Them, and their sister," he stopped, the door open and Miss Keane entering.   
  
"You can't do anything about the past," she said gently, placing a hand on his. The man blinked, then nodded.  
  
"You're right. Let's go home. I've got some food cooking in the oven that I left just before the girls packed."  
  
"Oh really?" the schoolteacher asked playfully. "Whatever for?"  
  
"Well, we'll be alone..." the man winked, getting into the other side of his car. "And... there's something I need to ask you tonight."  
  
"Really?" Miss Keane asked, as the professor drove both of them away from Morgan's Institute.  
  
"Really..." the man smiled, driving away. He'd waited far too long for this...  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"I hope that we'll be okay, saving Townsville and doing all our schoolwork here," murmured Bubbles, looking around the room that she and her sister now called home. "I mean, I wouldn't want to fall behind in class-"  
  
"I know I won't, at least," Blossom said, sitting at the wooden desk that she'd been provided in the dorm room. Bubbles crossed her arms.  
  
"There you go again, Miss Smarty Pants," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Can't you let go of that attitude for just one day?"  
  
"Sure. As soon as you drop that Miss-I-Love-My-Daddy act that you had going on earlier today," the redhead responded.   
  
Bubbles stamped her foot on the hardwood floor of their room. "Who says that was an act, Blossom? I happen to love Dad and I'm going to miss him while we're here! And Miss Keane!"  
  
"I won't," Blossom said, standing up and looking out the window.  
  
"What?" Bubbles said, her jaw nearly dropping. "What did you say?"  
  
"I said I won't miss them," Blossom said, turning her head towards her sister. "We'll have enough here to keep us busy that I won't have time to miss them." With that, she walked over towards her bed, upon which laid a set of simple pink bed sheets, color-coordinated for the 'pink' Powerpuff.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"But- how- Blossom, what have you become?" Bubbles asked her sister, crossing her arms. "You used to be so happy and loving, and now you're- you're a coldhearted bitch! What happened to you?"  
  
"You know very well what happened," the girl responded.  
  
"You can't blame her for everything," Bubbles spat. "If she were here, you might still have been the same person you are today. Cold, and heartless."  
  
"So? Are you angry at me for blaming her?" Blossom asked, her voice dangerous.  
  
"Buttercup isn't the person that's a coldhearted bitch right now, is she? No, she isn't," when her sister stared up at her with cold ruby eyes. "No. The person that is, is the only sister I have left. The only one, damn it," she whispered, trying to hold the tears in.  
  
"You're damn lucky that the press hasn't picked up on this little breakdown you seem to be having," Blossom said, picking up a nearby book and skimming through it. "Otherwise, the city might have less faith in its protectors."  
  
"You're worried about the damn press?" Bubbles's expression became one of utter disbelief. "You're worried about what the press thinks, but not ME? Not what I think?"   
  
Blossom didn't say a word, still skimming through pages.  
  
"I see how it is," the blonde said, tears brimming. "You're too good even for your own sister now. Well, that's fine. That's just dandy with me. You know what- I'm going to go out in the hallway there and adopt the first person I see as my new sister. And the thing is, even if they happen to be the cruelest person in the world, they're probably a thousand times more loving than you'd ever be!"  
  
With that, the blonde opened up the door and slammed it behind her, Blossom continuing to read the book that was in front of her.   
  
"You should be more quiet, Bubbles," the girl said, not realizing that her sister was already a good hundred meters away from their door by now.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Stupid- JERK of a sister," Bubbles Utonium spat, kicking a nearby stone down the hallway of her dormitory. The blonde's long blonde hair was tied back into two pigtails, one of which was held within a finger and forefinger, the teen chewing on the end.   
  
Her face had lengthened in the ten years since she'd been created. No longer so cherubic and large, her visage now more refined. Sapphire eyes shined through the thin bangs that outlined her face. Her now lithe figure made her a piece of eyecandy to boys, but never an object of affection- her sister's constant threats to males' health if they so dared to lay a finger on her secured that.  
  
Letting go her blonde ponytail, Bubbles sighed, then stamped her foot in renewed agitation. "Just wait and see, Blossom. I'll find someone else to be my sister, even if you-"  
  
Suddenly a dark-haired presence made itself known to the girl, as it collided- head on- with the Powerpuff.  
  
"Ouch!" the other voice said, revealing itself seconds later to belong to a raven-haired girl who was now rubbing her head. "Where were you going in such a hurry that you didn't see someone coming out of their room?" she complained.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," Bubbles said, holding out a hand to the girl, who she could now see had a small bruise forming on her forehead. "Oh! I'm really, really sorry- I was just... I had a fight with my sister, and I-"  
  
"Your sister?" the girl asked, opening her eyes. When she did, the girl had a puzzled look on her face... a puzzled look that turned to one of utter embarrassment.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, I-"  
  
"Don't worry about it, it was my fault, after all," Bubbles giggled. She held out her hand to the girl. "Bubbles Utonium. I expect you recognize me by the look you have on your face."  
  
"Jade Raven," the girl answered, her jaw slightly dropped. "I- I don't know what to say-"  
  
"Don't worry about it," the blonde said, smiling. "Like I said, it was my fault, after all. You're a freshman, too, I take it?"  
  
"Yeah," the girl named Jade sighed. "I don't really know anyone here but my roommate- and then running into you-"  
  
"Would you like to go around and tour the campus with me?" Bubbles asked, smiling. "I don't know where everything is, and the campus is going to close soon, I think," she said, looking up at a clock in the hallway. "It's nearly nine o'clock now, and I know they're only open till ten- at least, that's what the brochure said."  
  
"Well, I-" The girl gave what looked like a happy expression, then pulled it back into one of deep regret. "I-I'm afraid I can't. I have an appointment I have to keep tonight. Otherwise, I'd be... very happy to accompany you."  
  
"Okay!" Bubbles smiled and waved at the girl, continuing down the hallway. She turned the corner and smiled- at least she had one familiar face besides her jerk sister's now. Grinning, the blonde nearly skipped down the hallway to the elevator. This was going to be better than she thought.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Bubbles..." Buttercup said, standing in the middle of the hallway. "Judy said you were here, but I didn't believe it, quite... my gosh, you haven't changed a bit." The black-haired girl held her hand to her chest, her heart feeling as though it might burst.  
  
It had come as quite a shock to run into her, let alone run into her here, of all places. Buttercup shook her head. She couldn't let seeing her sister ruin her new mission. Suddenly, something dawned on the girl- she couldn't even remember the reason she'd left her room in the first place.   
  
She looked down and saw a bag in her hands, and remembered. Ah- the gifts her beloved monks had given her. She smiled. It was time to go kick some bad guy butt. She'd waited so long...  
  
Hurring down the hallway, the girl rushed into the floor bathroom, selecting a stall and changing her clothes as quickly as possible. Once everything had been strapped into place, the raven-haired girl looked around for somewhere to stash her old clothes.   
  
She came upon a small cupboard near the entrance of the bathrooms. Buttercup looked around, then grinned. It was well-hidden enough that no one should find it. Working quickly, she stashed her stuff into it, then looked for a window.   
  
The heroine found one near the end of the stalls. Using the staff that Brother Mark had given her, Buttercup managed to pry it open, then slipped through it using her direly-unused abilties of flight. As she did, Buttercup closed her eyes, enjoying the blissful experience.  
  
This is what she'd missed.   
  
Opening her eyes, she shut the bathroom window behind her, then flew to the top of the building. Landing, the emerald-eyed teen searched the sky for some landmark that was familiar.  
  
Ah-hah. There. The Townsville City Hall. Well, that was as good a spot as any to start from. With that, the black-haired girl flew into the air, speeding towards the city.   
  
This was going to be fun.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Blossom Utonium sat on her chair, still skimming through her schoolbooks. She'd have to start now if she wanted to excel as well as she wanted to.   
  
No. She placed the book she'd been holding on the table.   
  
Excelling was not everything. She had to stay on top in order to defeat the attackers of her beloved city of Townsville. Ruby eyes looked out the dormitory room window towards the city.   
  
Her home- her and her sister's home for the past ten years. So nice- there was the Professor, Miss Keane, Miss Bellum, the Mayor- Blossom shook her head. No time right now for reminiscing. She had to study, to plan, for the next baddie that might threaten her neighborhood.   
  
The girl pushed back a strand of red hair. For all that she maintained that she was in favor of a peaceful Townsville, Blossom wished that something would happen tonight so that she could let loose and fight.   
  
Placing her hand on her chin, she looked out at the city once more, admiring its lights from afar. Suddenly, something flew in her line of vision towards her home.  
  
"What the..."  
  
A small dot on the horizon was flying towards the city, and flying pretty fast at that. Blossom Utonium stood up and placed her hands on her hips. This was more like it. She picked up a box that was conveniently located on her belt and talked into it.  
  
"Bubbles, we got trouble."  
  
A few seconds passed before a response came.  
  
"I understand. I'll meet you there."   
  
Milliseconds later, Blossom could see a blue haze on the horizon, the girl moving so fast that her clothes seemed to make a bright blue light behind her. Smiling, Blossom prepared to get herself outside, opening her window.  
  
It was a good night for combat...  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
*^_^* So what did y'all think? :D Expect some more twists & turns to come! Oh, and please read/review- they really keep me going! (if you haven't noticed! ^_~) 


	8. Foretold Spar

A/N: *huggles readers* Well, if you haven't been able to tell, the story has finally advanced to the *main* plot finally. ^_^ In any case, this is the *tide turner* chapter, as I'm planning this ficcy to be about fifteen chapters. :D *dances around*  
  
This is the long awaited fighting chapter- *jumps up and down* I've been working on this sequence for a while, trying to get it just right. *Saberpilot hides pictures of fighting poses she used to get the scenes down pat* ^_^  
  
Anyways, here ya folks go, and as always, hugs & kisses to my beta-buddy, Byrn! *^_^* Couldn't do it without ya, bud! Seriously! ^_~  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
It was a good night, Buttercup decided. A good night to let loose, to fight with no hindrances. She'd only fought with Brother Mark once using her full abilities- and it had been by pure accident. The black-haired super heroine smiled, remembering the incident...  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Nine year old Jade Raven, known as Buttercup Utonium in another life, was in a corner, and she knew it. Brother Mark had been very lenient with her up until this point, and now he wasn't, much to Buttercup's chagrin.  
  
The monk had been teaching the small girl the value of stealth, a weapon just as deadly as the techniques he showed her how to employ with her hands and feet. Capturing an attacker or an opponent without having to strike once could turn the tide in even the most hopeless situation.  
  
Right now Buttercup couldn't see how the situation could become more hopeless than it already was.  
  
The small girl closed her eyes, concentrating. She and Brother Mark were outside, the moon being the only form of light shining down on either of them.  
  
She concentrated on her hearing, trying to make out the small shuffles in nearby blades of grass. If she could hear Brother Mark moving, then she could get the upper hand on him. Straining, she could hear no signs of movement. Focusing on her hearing even more, she heard the soft wind blowing against the green grass, its swaying gently soothing.  
  
Buttercup opened her eyes. There was absolutely no trace of the man. The emerald-eyed girl swore in thought the few words she'd learned in Latin that were... of choice. Gritting her teeth, she stood up against the tree that she was by and tensed up. Time for the master to be surprised...  
  
Just as her muscles tensed, she felt a dark shadow come across her.  
  
"Wha-"  
  
A few milliseconds were all the girl had to evade the low palm strike that ran past her small knobbed shoulder. She fell into a low horse stance to miss the attack, turning left into a high roundhouse kick aimed towards the silent attacker.  
  
"You nearly missed that, Jade. Stealth does not work if one isn't paying attention!"  
  
"I WAS paying attention!" The girl answered as the monk locked her foot into a handhold, her answer a downward shift, her right foot folding underneath her body, Brother Mark's hold slipping slightly.  
  
"Then why was I nearly successful in my attack of you?" The monk jumped up as Buttercup unfolded her right leg and tried to strike with a side kick. He let go of her leg and rolled forward, springing off his hands and performing a turnoff to face the black-haired child.  
  
"Because... because..." Buttercup's rage started to overcome her sense of sanity. "Because you cheated!"  
  
Brother Mark raised an eyebrow. "I cheated, did I? Then attack me and prove myself to be a cowardly fighter."  
  
"Arrrrrgh!" Buttercup thrust herself off the ground, pushing with her feet to give her some leverage. Her eyes were slowly becoming a dark maroon color, their irises falling finally into a pure red of hatred. A ruby glow seemed to surround the girl's eyes, heat seeming to stream from them as well. She closed them, her angry eyes fading back into a deep emerald. She opened them and screamed.  
  
"YOU- CHEATED!" She yelled, not bothering to stop her body from its continuous flight path. Brother Mark's eyes became slits as he realized what his little apprentice was doing. Buttercup's right arm fell back towards her waist, readying itself for a strengthened punch.  
  
She flew forward to attack-  
  
Only to see Brother Mark vanish into thin air.  
  
"Wha-" she started, not noticing that she was still floating mid-air. She looked around her, all senses dulled by her blinded rage. A moment later she felt herself being weighted down to the ground.  
  
Brother Marks' dark eyes appeared above her, and the girl was not able to move in time as she was pushed to the ground by a pair of open palms. Yelling with blood-curdling rage, Buttercup tried to escape the oncoming rush of weight by using her long-unused superpowers. However, Brother Mark had caught her off-guard, and her calling on her powers had come too late to turn the tide.  
  
Five seconds later, the struggling girl finally quieted down, admitting defeat by keeping silent. Brother Mark let the girl loose after she quieted, moving to the side and sitting in a meditative position.  
  
"So, Miss Raven, did I cheat?"  
  
A moment of silence passed before the child spoke. "No. You didn't."  
  
"And why did I defeat you?"  
  
"Because you have mastered the art of stealth, and I have not."  
  
Another moment passed, and the master looked at the young girl, who was sulking by this point. "I would not say it is because I have mastered something you have not. I would say it is because I have learned something you have not."  
  
"You have?" Buttercup turned to look at the man, all signs of agitation gone, replaced by wonder.  
  
"I have learned that in order to be truly the master of stealth, I must observe first and strike second."  
  
"But isn't that what I did?"  
  
"No, Miss Raven. What you tried to do was attack first and observe second. Your blood was boiling to attack first rather than observe first. If you observe rather than let your blood boil, you will be smoother in your attacks when it comes to be time for them."  
  
"I see," Buttercup said, realizing how close she'd come seconds earlier to letting her anger boil over. And... The youngster put her hand to her mouth. She'd flown. Had he... had he...? Buttercup turned to look up at the monk, who was staring at the distance. A second later, he turned and smiled at her.  
  
"Well, shall we try the exercise again, Jade?"  
  
Buttercup smiled, relieved that he hadn't noticed her flying demonstration. Smiling, the raven-haired girl nodded, smiling.  
  
"Yes. Let's."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Buttercup shook her head and grinned sadly. Brother Mark had known at the time what she'd done, but she'd been too sure of her ability to hide her identity at the time. What a cute little fool she'd been.  
  
The teenager stopped flying mid-air, seeing a rooftop that was vacant. Smiling, she set down, moving her shoulders slightly so that her staff was re-adjusted from its position where it'd been when she was flying. Shaking her head slightly, black bangs moved away from her face, allowing her vision to clear.  
  
Emerald eyes scanned the city of Townsville, looking at her surroundings. Buttercup intook a breath, smiling. The scenery hadn't changed much since she'd been gone. The city hall was still placed in the middle of town square, its domed ceiling slightly worn from a decade of rain wear.  
  
Buildings still rose to define the city's skyline, its lights twinkling. The girl looked from side to side. Nothing had really changed at all.  
  
Buttercup walked over towards the edge of the skyscraper that she'd been standing on and looked down towards the city streets. People moved along the walk, their silhouettes dark against the pale pavement. Raven hair blew gently in the wind as Buttercup observed the scene before her.  
  
She closed her eyes and listened.  
  
"Honestly, Harry, I don't-"  
  
"I told her that I couldn't, but does she listen to me, no-"  
  
"Those damn Powerpuff Girls-"  
  
Emerald eyes snapped open in attention, and the girl focused on the last voice that spoke ill of the city's superheroes. The voice came from approximately two city blocks away, Buttercup's view blocked by a large truck that sat in front of it. Smiling, the girl placed her right hand back on the staff that still hung between her shoulder blades, fingering it.  
  
"It's time."  
  
With that, the young woman jumped off the building top, using her powers of levitation to let herself fall to a safe landing. It had been too long, that was for sure...  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"You're telling me that someone was flying from our general direction towards Townsville?"  
  
"That's correct," Blossom said to her blonde-haired sister, her red hair flowing behind her as she flew towards her hometown. "I've never seen anyone fly around without ill intent towards our city, so I thought it'd be wise to investigate."  
  
Bubbles looked at her sister, wondering where the young innocent five year old she'd known had gone. Her sister's red hair waved behind her, its tresses now long enough to reach the small in her back. Her well-toned figure made her appear muscular, but it was more her attitude than her figure that scared away interested boys. Her face might as well have been chiseled from stone, its features defined as sharply as a hawk's. Her current appearance was a far cry from her childhood's gentle figure.  
  
"You're just itching to fight, aren't you?" Bubbles sighed, placing a hand behind her head and shaking the reminiscent memories of ten years ago. "I swear. Either you take out your frustrations by belittling people, over- studying, or by fighting. None of those choices are healthy."  
  
"You're one to talk, Miss Crybaby. Freud would have a field day with you."  
  
A moment of silence passed, Bubbles letting the acidic comment slide off her. "Did you happen to get a good look at the person?"  
  
Blossom shook her head, then looked at the pink trail following behind her. "Their clothes obviously weren't very bright, like ours. If they'd been so, they'd have left a trail behind them like we do. The darkness swallowed any clues I might have picked up."  
  
"So we're just looking for someone who can fly?"  
  
"They were heading towards Townsville! Obviously they were up to no good!"  
  
"But... what if it wasn't someone with ill intent? What if..." Bubbles trailed off. "What if it was Buttercup?"  
  
A sharp moment of silence passed between the sisters, so sharp that a knife could have cut it in two. Blossom stared straight ahead into the distance, her voice unnecessary as her expression of stone spoke more than any words could ever convey.  
  
"I-I'm sorry. I just haven't given up hope," Bubbles said, realizing how much that had hurt her prideful sister. No matter how much Bubbles could hate the redhead, she was still the only sister she had left. "So besides the fact that this person can fly and was headed to Townsville, do we know anything else?"  
  
Blossom nodded. "They came from the same general direction as our school. So, they either are going to our school, which I deem as pretty improbable, or they come from the nearby town of Citysville."  
  
"Citysville? Oh, I hope not," Bubbles said, rolling her icy blue eyes and laughing slightly. "I really don't want to deal with them again. The last time we had to help them out, they kept us under surveillance the entire time because of their poor bridge and what happened the last time we were there." The blonde laughed. "You'd think they thought we were radioactive or something."  
  
Blossom looked thoughtful for a minute, and a small smile came to her face. "Well... we were made with Chemical X..."  
  
Bubbles smiled gently back, glad that her sister had broken her iced bitch act for the first time in weeks. She flew towards the city, a smile on her face. No matter what, she still loved her sister.  
  
Except whenever she was an ice queen. She sure as hell hated her then.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Emerald eyes looked at the scene laid before them. A man with slick black hair was standing in the midst of a gas station, his hand casually pointing from the inside of his suit jacket. He smiled with a set of shiny teeth at the lady who stood behind the counter.  
  
Buttercup tilted her head slightly to hear the conversation inside.  
  
"See, I know they won't be coming here, just as you know they won't be coming here. The Powerpuff Girls are at school right now, you see, and besides, your boss promised me that there wouldn't be any trouble. You see, my boys and I offer a sort of protection here- protection from ourselves. Your boss gives us money... and we make sure nothing happens. Savvy?"  
  
"Y-yes, sir," the brunette behind the counter said, opening the cash drawer in front of her with a shaking hand. "I-I understand."  
  
"That's good. I'm very, very happy when the people I work with understand. You see, it makes things that much easier," the man continued, leaning towards the girl with a cat-like grin on his face. He held out the jacket pocket that had a tube-shaped end to it towards the woman, using his other arm to pull the woman towards her.  
  
"And when things are made easier- things can be happier, too..."  
  
The sound of smashed glass suddenly caused the man to turn around, his slicked hair moving slightly as his head rotated.  
  
A figure stood in front of him, the light from the convenience store window outlining black hair that hung in front of its shadowed face. The man smirked aloud.  
  
"What are you? Some pet of the Powerpuffs' sent to keep an eye while your owners are at their school? Or are you from some deviant organization that's trying to horn in on our territory?"  
  
"Try neither," the voice said, its quality slightly altoish and melodic. "I answer to neither Powerpuff nor criminal alike."  
  
"Really? And what are you doing out so late, little girl?" the man asked, pushing the cashier girl back to the wall, the brunette crying out as she flew back. The man's face became visible as he walked over towards the alto voice, the lights revealing a pale complexion, nearly green in color.  
  
"I'm no little girl," the voice replied, its inflection now cold as ice. Suddenly the slicked man looks towards the person's left hand, which has moved from its immobile position to grasping a large stick that it held on her back. "I am the voice of a conscience. I'm here because yours is obviously dead."  
  
"I wasn't aware of that. Or you, to be honest. I've never even seen you before. What are you, some sort of heroine wannabe? Sorry, kid, but the job's taken by two of the most obnoxious teenagers in the world- the Powerpuff Girls."  
  
"I know the names."  
  
"Then why are you here? Do you want to die, too?"  
  
"You're going to kill that woman?" The black-haired female looked at the cashier girl, who was shivering in fright against the wall that she was thrown against. The man inspected her critically, and realized that he was now looking deeply into a pair of eyes that held sparkles of light within them- their true color hidden by her shadowed bangs. Buttercup grinned. Obviously the man was stunned.  
  
"Not exactly kill. No, more like take what's mine. Her boss owes me because of the distraction that you've created here." Suddenly the gun in his pocket finally came into view, its barrel pointed directly at the girl fingering her staff. "It's too bad, really. You're kind of cute."  
  
"And you... you never change, Ace."  
  
"Huh?" the man was taken aback.  
  
He didn't have time to react, however, as Buttercup pulled the large stick from behind her back, flexibly falling into a front stance and twisting the staff into a low arch attack that swept the man off his feet. A millisecond later, a hand ripped the gun from his hand.  
  
"Wait-"  
  
"I don't wait for jerks like you," the girl retorted, her tone still icy. Ace looked up into the shadowed eyes, for the first time afraid in years.  
  
He'd been running the show as a legitimate business man as a front for years now... even the Powerpuff Girls hadn't been able to lay a finger on him as he and his old gang from ten years ago had become the legal business firm of Green and Company. However, in the underground... that was another story.  
  
She placed the end of her staff at his throat, her expression serious. Ace Green looked up at the girl with disgust.  
  
"You think you can get away with this? I'm Ace Green, for God's sake-"  
  
"I don't care who you are," Buttercup retorted. "You're threatening to harm a human being, and that's good enough reason for me to give you a beating down, even if your status can't earn you time in jail. Besides, I think it'll be hard to cover a black eye up in the press, won't it?"  
  
"You bitch."  
  
"My name's not bitch, sir. It's Saint Raven."  
  
"Saint... Raven?"  
  
"Yes. And be sure to tell all your friends about me, too. No longer will the petty crimes in the dark alleyways be ignored. While the Powerpuff Girls may find small crimes to humanity tolerable, I do not. They can't be worried about every single little thing that goes on in the streets. I can. You be sure to let everyone you know about me. Because I'm not disappearing."  
  
With that, the girl quickly took up her staff and swung it around into an arc, letting the end strike the man twice- once in the eye, as promised, and once between the legs. Smiling, the emerald-eyed young woman placed her staff back onto her back, then walked over to where the working girl was still shivering against the wall. Holding out her hand, she helped the brunette back onto her feet.  
  
"Th-thanks," she whispered to the raven-haired girl as the green faced man writhed on the ground.  
  
"Not a problem," Buttercup smiled, walking out the front door. "Not a problem at all..."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Did you hear that?" Bubbles said, stopping mid-air. "I could've sworn I heard someone getting beat up."  
  
Blossom stopped flying along with her sister, using her hearing to try and pinpoint the source of the noise Bubbles had reported. She closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the city overwhelm her.  
  
"I don't know why we go this way. It's much easier-"  
  
Car horn.  
  
"I'm telling you, the Bombstreet boys are better than those pathetic losers, N'Tune! My gosh, don't you keep up on the times-"  
  
Thwack. The sound of steel hitting flesh. Blossom opened her eyes and nodded at her sister. "I think it's about five blocks from here. Someone's getting their ass handed to them on a silver platter."  
  
Bubbles had already headed in the direction described, Blossom following mere seconds later. The two of them intertwined their flight paths, creating ribbons of blue and pink that followed both of them. Blossom glanced at her sister as the two of them continued speeding towards the sound of the attacks.  
  
Her blue eyes were closed in determination, all her soul reaching towards the sound of conflict that she had identified earlier. Blossom's eyes grew large as she recognized the expression that her sister now wore.  
  
It had been Buttercup's.  
  
Shaking her head, the redhead pushed away painful reminders and focused. The sounds of beating had stopped for the moment. That could only mean one of two things: Either the person being hurt had stopped struggling and given into their fate... or they weren't able to move at all, period.  
  
Pushing herself, the auburn-headed girl closed her eyes along with her sister, driving herself towards the noise all the faster. Finally, she opened her eyes when she realized that they'd come to the source.  
  
Bubbles had already stopped mid-air, and was looking at her sister expectantly. Blossom nodded, scanning the area along with her sister for visual clues. Her blonde sister suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hmmm?" Blossom queried. Her sister pointed.  
  
In the distance stood a young woman standing outside a gas station convenience store, her face looking up towards the sisters. Blossom gritted her teeth at the sight of the young woman. She nodded towards Bubbles, and the two flew over towards the girl, stopping mid-air in front of her.  
  
"Yes?" She asked the two, raising a black eyebrow in annoyance.  
  
"What were you doing approximately five seconds ago?" Blossom asked the girl, crossing her pink-clad arms for good measure.  
  
The girl glanced back slightly towards the convenience store. "Taking out the trash."  
  
"I hadn't known that cashiers dressed so oddly nowadays."  
  
"My dress, odd?" the young woman queried, looking down at herself. A dark green sleeveless cloak surrounded her, trimmed and tied by a black belt. A pair of deep emerald boots were all that could be seen of her feet, and a deep green headband adorned her fore brow.  
  
"It's not exactly what I'd call a fashion statement," Bubbles smiled. "So... what were you doing, for real? And don't try and lie to us. We can tell when people are lying?"  
  
"Is that so?" The girl smiled. "I hadn't known that was one of the infamous Powerpuff Girls' powers. I thought all they could do was fly around and shoot things with their laser vision. Guess I was wrong."  
  
"You didn't answer my sister's question," Blossom said.  
  
"And why should I? Isn't a person allowed to take out the garbage now?"  
  
Blossom looked past the girl, using her refined vision to zero in on one of the station windows. Inside, a young girl was on the phone crying. She glanced towards the floor of the station, only to see a man writhing in pain. A man with a very familiar green complexion...  
  
"Do you realize who've you hurt?"  
  
The girl glanced back towards the station once more, then stared right back up at Blossom. "Should it matter? He was intending to hurt that young girl and I'd say he got what he deserved."  
  
"He may have been a criminal in the past, but he's a legitimate business man now-" Bubbles said, her face draining of color once she'd seen what her sister had been looking at. "And..."  
  
"So what are you going to do to me now? Hurt me?" The emerald-clad woman's voice was humorous in nature. "Strike me? Zap me with one of your laser beams? I'm not afraid."  
  
"You should be," Blossom said, her pink-gloved hands balling into fists. "There's a reason there's very little crime in this city. That's because we, the Powerpuff Girls, are here to protect it. And you-" she pointed at the young woman, "are a disturbance to the peace that we've worked so hard to create."  
  
"I think you're mistaken," the raven-haired girl answered back. "If you'd just observe instead of fighting, you'd realize there's more hiding behind the shadows than you want to admit."  
  
"You- you-" Blossom's ruby eyes glowed red with rage, her anger becoming unchecked. Her auburn hair seemed to flow around her body as the young woman darted forward, trying to strike the young woman with a punch to the upper solar plexus.  
  
However, when the redhead came within a millimeter of attacking the girl, all she met contact with was air.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that," the girl said, standing approximately ten meters away mid-air.  
  
"How did you-" Blossom started, then gritted her teeth. "It doesn't matter. We'll defeat you anyways!"  
  
"How dare you trick my sister!" Bubbles spat, staring the black-haired girl down. She yelled, then flew towards the emerald-clad girl, racing towards her with her right leg aimed out in a low axe kick.  
  
"Temper, temper," the green-eyed girl cheerfully said as she locked Bubble's foot with one hand. The blue-clad heroine tried to fight the lock, but to no avail as the raven girl's hold was rock solid. Smiling, the robed woman twisted Bubble's leg, sending the girl spiraling towards empty air.  
  
How is she able to anticipate our attacks like that? Blossom asked herself, biting a nail in agitation. It's almost as if she has some sort of foresight or something...  
  
"Are we done here? I really want to go and clean up some more garbage tonight, but if you two won't let me..."  
  
"We're not done," Blossom said, crouching down into a corner back stance. "I haven't even started yet."  
  
"Is that so?" the robed girl asked, amusement clearly ringing through her voice. "I thought we'd finished when I'd evaded your attack so easily. Besides, haven't you caught on yet? We're on the same side."  
  
"But you attacked Ace Green! Don't you realize who he is?" Bubbles exclaimed. "He's famous- even if he did attack that girl, we can't do a thing about it- he's got lawyers and people to back him up!"  
  
"Bubbles!" Blossom exclaimed.  
  
"No, listen- both of you-" Bubbles started, then looked at the girl. "Are you really on our side?"  
  
The girl nodded once. "I'm only here to do a little spring cleaning. I'm here to take care of the attacks that you two can't seem to bother yourselves with. Think of me as the person who does the dirty work, while you two get the glory."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that you won't get any glory," Blossom said, her voice acidic. "You just attacked Ace Green, chairman of Green and Company. This will have repercussions."  
  
"He won't try anything."  
  
"How can you be so sure?"  
  
"Would the ex-gang member show off his weakness so publicly? Tell the world that he was defeated by a girl who was not only NOT a Powerpuff, but beaten for trying to harm a clerk shop worker?"  
  
Blossom gave the girl a pointed look. "You're quite a political person."  
  
"I abide by the rules of government and war. And only the fittest shall survive. So said Darwin, I do believe," the girl said, looking at her fingers disinterestedly.  
  
"So, you're here to stop crime as well?" Bubbles looked at her sister. "Blossom, it wouldn't hurt to have another person on our side. And if she can defeat us, she must be pretty strong-"  
  
"She didn't defeat us."  
  
"Blossom-"  
  
"Listen. I won't harp in on your territory," the girl said, looking between the two of them, the emerald jewel on her forehead twinkling with a green life all its own. "I'm merely here to help out the citizens of this city known as Townsville by taking care of the crimes that you two don't have time for. Not that I'm belittling your abilities-" she said, noticing Blossom's opened mouth- "But you can't be everywhere at once. I can do more help than harm for you, and I won't even try to take the glory, I promise."  
  
"Who are you?" Blossom substituted the acidic comment she'd been going to say earlier.  
  
"The name's Saint Raven."  
  
"Saint Raven?" Bubbles inquired. "That's a strange name for a superhero."  
  
"It's the name I was given," the girl smiled, looking off to the distance. "And the name that suits me best." She smiled at the pair, saluting as she did. "So, have we come to terms?"  
  
Blossom looked at her sister, then up at the emerald-eyed girl. "For now. But this isn't over by a long shot."  
  
Funnily enough, that seemed to amuse the girl. "Oh, I know that. But for right now, I think I'll enjoy myself. There are more than enough people out there who need to be shown that the law still exists, and I have plenty of time on my hands." She smiled at the two Powerpuffs. "And with that, I take my leave."  
  
Seconds later, the emerald clad woman took to the air, a black braid flowing behind her as she sped into the distance. Bubbles looked at her sister and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"New enemy, huh? New ally, more like it. You're too paranoid, Blossom."  
  
The redhead snorted. "Not paranoid. Cautious. And I was telling her the truth, before you become relaxed. This isn't over by a long shot. I don't like people doing the duties that we are supposed to fulfill. I'm going to find out exactly who this Saint Raven is."  
  
"I figured you'd say something like that," Bubbles said, rolling her eyes. "Well... if there's nothing else here, shall we head back? I need to get some sleep before tomorrow."  
  
"Fine."  
  
The two sisters took to the air, heading in the opposite direction that the Raven had gone, leaving two bright pink and blue trails behind them as they flew.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Buttercup watched as Bubbles and Blossom zoomed back towards Morgan's. She intook a deep breath, her chest heaving as she traced their flight paths with her mind.  
  
She'd been wondering what their first encounter would be like, fighting. They hadn't changed a bit. Blossom's strikes were still too light, and Bubbles still needed work on those side kicks. Buttercup shook her head. Now was not the time to analyze their attacks.  
  
Now was the time to analyze what she was going to do.  
  
Bubbles had coerced a treaty of sorts from Blossom, once she'd realized that Buttercup had been truthful. However, that didn't mean that Blossom would hold up to her end of the bargain.  
  
Buttercup knew all too well how ruthless the redhead could be.  
  
The raven-haired girl bit a knuckle, watching as the two streams of pink and blue faded into the distance. Neither of them had recognized her, and that made Buttercup sigh with relief. It had been her darkest nightmare that her former sisters would recognize her.  
  
Thank God nightmares weren't reality.  
  
The past several nights had been filled with dreams of their first encounter, of the girls figuring out her real identity upon their first meeting. To her surprise, neither of them seemed to recognize her... which Buttercup considered a miracle. After all, she hadn't changed that much, had she? She looked down at herself, reaching with her right hand to pull on her raven-colored braid.  
  
Green eyes, black hair... those traits were still the same, but now that she thought about it, she really didn't look like her past self. When she'd been a child, she'd had cherubic features, wide eyes and a gentle expression.  
  
Buttercup placed her head in her hands. She'd had to fight back verbally the entire fight. Humor was her only weapon that she'd had against the two during their spat. She held back tears that were fighting to be released.  
  
Bubbles... she'd grown to be much like she'd been... a tough exterior. Black hair shook as the girl struggled now to hold back the tears, her entire body shaking. She'd wanted to call out to her sister, tell her that it was her, Buttercup... wanted to tell her not to cry, not to be so hard on herself...  
  
The young teen finally sniffled away the little droplets of tears that had been threatening to fall down the girl's face, wiping them away with the back of her hand. She blinked, then regained her composure.  
  
Buttercup looked around her, scanning the area. She tilted her head to the side and listened to the silence of the city, its only noises for right now snippets of conversations between people who still were awake. All peaceful, none of the voices seemed to hold any ill intent towards others. The emerald-eyed girl smiled. She'd done enough work for tonight.  
  
Looking off into the distance, Buttercup noticed that her sisters' streaks of light were no longer present, having faded into nothingness. Smiling, the black-trimmed girl rose up into the air, her eyes shutting as she enjoyed the adrenaline rush of flight once more.  
  
Things might be okay, she thought to herself. Things might be okay.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Hmm... a girl who has the distinct markings of being a superhero, or someone who would fight evil beings bent on total obliteration. And it also seems as though the Powerpuff Girls do not like her- in fact, it seems they abhor her, reject her, and detest her!"  
  
A grin widened on the observer's cheek as he watched the scene play out on his telescope. He pushed the optical device away from his face and smiled.  
  
"It appears that she must have some sort of weakness, a flaw, a part of her that is not superheroic, however, as shown by her crying. Perhaps... hmm." The observer smirked.  
  
"So... someone who is a superhero, yet is despised by the Powerpuff Girls. How can I use this to my advantage?" The being pondered, lightly rapping his fingers against one another. Suddenly, a possibility came to the personage, and he grinned widely.  
  
"Yes... yes, I have a plan..."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
*O.O* Oooh... who is that evil, evil person, and what plans does he have plotted for our little Buttercup? ^_~ Be sure to read/review and I'll have the next chapter out soon! ^_^ 


	9. Forthcoming Knowledge

A/N: *huggles readers* Thank you all sooo much! I'm glad you're enjoying this ficcy- I know I'm enjoying writing it! :D In response to some of your reviews, you'll just have to see how right you were... ^_~ Or how wrong. (I'm not telling! ^^)   
  
Only six/seven chapters to go! (I haven't decided whether or not it's going to be fifteen or sixteen yet _) *raises right hand into the air* I do solemnly swear that this fic will be completed by summer vacation. Not just because if I don't, I may disappoint the people who read it, but because I also have to work on other ficcies, too. ^_^  
  
*huggles Bryn* Thank you for beta-reading! :D Couldn't do it w/o you! Really! I mean it!   
  
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"Hello, students, and welcome to a new year here at Morgan's Institute. Or rather, I should say your first year," a man with a high collar spoke to the class in front of him. "My name is Professor Sternenoff, and I will be your homeroom teacher as well as your English instructor."  
  
He turned and smiled at the class, a wry smile hidden behind a set of black-rimmed glasses. "I hope that you will find our class time together both intellectually stimulating as well as enjoyable. I know that I will do my best to make it that way for you."  
  
He looked down at his roster sheet and smiled. "Before we start our first lesson today, I am going to call out a list of names. Please respond to whether you are present or not whenever I say yours." He looked down at his sheet once more and started, 'Anderson, Neville' his first victim.  
  
Buttercup sat at her desk, looking around at the stuffy classroom that she sat in. Its simplicity could only be compensated by the amount of books that sat on the nearby shelf, telling Buttercup, as well as the other students, that while the setting may have been simple in nature... the learning certainly wasn't.  
  
"Morbucks, Judy."  
  
"Present!" The roommate to Buttercup gave the girl a victory sign, Buttercup grinning at her friend's silly nature.  
  
The teacher continued to work down the list, finally calling out, "Raven, Jade."  
  
Green eyes blinked as Buttercup smiled. "Present!" Judy giggled from beside the girl. Bubbles waved at Buttercup, and the raven-haired girl smiled, waving back.  
  
Blossom looked at her sister and raised an eyebrow. "Friend of yours?"  
  
"We met yesterday in the hallway when I kind of- bumped into her," Bubbles said, giggling. "She's really nice."  
  
"I'm sure she is," Blossom said, a slight grin on her face. She looked the girl up and down. "Jade Raven... why does that name sound familiar to me?"  
  
"I don't know. Why does it?"  
  
"Utonium, Blossom."  
  
"Present!"  
  
"Utonium, Bubbles."  
  
"Present!" Bubbles looked at her sister, questioning. "Why does that name sound familiar to you, Blossom?"  
  
"Raven. It's the Raven part that sounds familiar. What was that girl's name that we fought the other day?"  
  
"Saint Raven."  
  
"You don't think..."  
  
Bubbles raised an eyebrow, then appraised Jade, who was currently sitting with her hands folded in front of her, studiously watching the teacher. She looked back at her sister, and shook her head. "Nah. Besides, what kind of superhero would use their own name for their superhero name?"  
  
Blossom stared at her sister with a blank expression. "Have you forgotten who we are?"  
  
"Bubbles and Blossom Utonium."  
  
"Exactly. So we really have no room to talk about obvious names-"  
  
"Bubbles and Blossom Utonium." Blossom suddenly realized that the voice was not her sister's. The redhead looked up to see that Professor Sternenoff was standing in front of the classroom staring at herself and her sister. Bubbles sat at her desk, her jaw slightly open in fear.  
  
"Um... yes, professor?" Bubbles queried.   
  
"Do you think you two can pipe down enough for me to start my lesson? There are students here who wish to learn, and I do not want to disappoint them."  
  
"I understand," The blonde nodded, speaking up where Blossom could not. Buttercup chanced a side glance towards the girl, whose face was pale as she was looking down at her desk. Buttercup bit her lip, then shook her head slightly. She raised her hand.  
  
"Yes, Miss Raven?" Sternenoff turned to look at the black-haired teenager, his attention now away from the blonde haired Powerpuff.  
  
"What exactly will we be learning today?" Buttercup stared back into the eyes that looked down at her with calculation.   
  
Surprisingly, the man laughed, and turned around, sitting on his desk to face the class. "Well, I'm glad to see someone's interested in what we're going to learn. Today, Miss Raven, we will be starting on the most famous work of Dante- The Inferno. In two weeks, we will proceed to The Purgatorio and, two weeks after that, The Paradisio. I'm assuming most of you are well-read in at least some of Dante's literature..."  
  
Buttercup raised her hand, slightly disappointed. "But... Professor Sternenoff, I've... I've already read the entire trilogy."  
  
The professor looked down at the girl. "You've already read the entirety of the Divine Comedy?"  
  
The raven-haired teen nodded. The teacher placed his finger to his chin. "Well, then, Miss Raven, please excuse me for this brief query, but... who was Virgil?"  
  
"The symbol of human reason. And he could only go so far with the author Dante, who was then accompanied by the light of God-"  
  
Sternenoff stared at the girl, swallowing quickly. "For future reference, Miss Raven, where was it again that you were schooled?"  
  
Buttercup looked down at her desk, aware that the entire class's eyes were now upon her. "At the Townsville Monastery."  
  
"Ah." The single word breathed by the professor spoke volumes. He stepped behind his desk, pulling out a file, skimming over it. "I would assume then that you were under the tutelage of a man named Brother Isaac?"  
  
The raven-haired girl nodded. Judy bit her lip, watching her roommate struggle under the amount of pressure that seemed to be mounting around her. Blossom's eyes were narrowed to slits watching the girl.   
  
Just then, the moment of silence that could have been cut with a knife was broken by a slight chuckle by Sternenoff. Emerald eyes, as well as the eyes of the rest of the class, stared up at the professor.   
  
"What's so-" Buttercup started, hesitantly. Sternenoff held up a hand.   
  
"No, no, it's nothing you've done wrong, Miss Raven. That just gives me a MUCH clearer idea of what you've been reading. Before Brother Isaac became a monk, he was a noted man in the field of literature and theological studies. He and I actually were school-mates a while back. I'm afraid, Miss Raven," he said, still smiling, but shaking his head, "That the literature I have selected for this semester will be pretty much all review for you. For today, please stay in this class. After class, you and I will go and see the Dean about placing you into a better-suited class. Perhaps my secondary literature class that is normally aimed towards sophomores and juniors."  
  
He smiled, then raised his hand towards the former Powerpuff, who was now blushing bright red in embarrassment. "Students- see Miss Raven here. She is to be your example in this class. Even though she may not be with you for longer than today, learn from her- reading will take you places in life."  
  
Blossom raised her hand. "What, exactly, besides the Divine Comedy, are we reading this semester?"  
  
The man smiled. "Well, besides Dante's comedy, we will be reading Shakespeare's Othello, LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven, as well as-"  
  
"Anything beyond that level of reading?" Blossom queried, raising an eyebrow. "I was made to understand that I would be learning in this class, not reviewing."  
  
Bubbles gasped at her sister's audacity. Sternenoff gave her a calculating stare, then looked down at his files once again. Glancing upward, he spoke. "Blossom Utonium, correct?"  
  
Pink eyes stared back at him levelly. "That's right."  
  
Sternenoff smiled, his grin slightly cat-like. "Well, Miss Utonium, you also may have been placed incorrectly, as well. However, I cannot vouch for your learning outside of school as I can for Miss Raven's." Blossom opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced quickly by his continuation.   
  
"And no, I will not take the assumption that because you are a Powerpuff Girl that you would know more than the average freshman. If you wish to petition to be placed in a higher class, please stay after class with myself and Miss Raven. Perhaps the Dean can give you a test of your abilities. Wherever you place, we will go from there. For now, I would ask that you do not speak out of turn, but listen for the moment. Do you understand?"  
  
The redhead shut her mouth and nodded, her eyes slitted. Sternenoff looked around the class, and gave everyone a wide grin.   
  
"Well then. If there are no other objections to MY choice of literary pieces, why don't we start? You'll find that there is a copy of the Comedy in the drawer underneath your desk. Please open to the preface; we'll start by reading this particular translator's thoughts on this novel. Miss Morbucks-" Sternenoff called on the red haired heiress, "why don't you start us out by reading aloud?"  
  
Blossom gave Bubbles a pointed look, jerking her head towards the ex-Princess. Judy sweated underneath the pressure, but was then relieved to see Bubbles give her an encouraging look. She turned her head slightly to the left to see Jade giving her a gentle smile and a small nod of encouragement.  
  
Smiling tenaciously, Judy Morbucks cleared her throat, then began.   
  
"The Divine Comedy is a piece not easily translated due to its rhythmic and rhyming form in Latin..."  
  
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"Well, Miss Jade-" Sternenoff said, grinning ear to ear, then letting his face become a tad more serious, "You- you don't mind if I call you by your first name, do I? I know it's rather unprofessional, but since I feel we're colleagues of a sort-"  
  
Buttercup blushed, then smiled. "I don't know about a colleague, Professor Sternenoff, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, that's fine with me."  
  
The class had filed out, Sternenoff having started his class. Buttercup and Blossom had stayed afterwards, as per his request. The copper-headed Powerpuff sat at her desk, rather miffed by the conversation earlier in class.  
  
ed  
  
"Thanks," the man said. "Anyways, what I wanted to ask you was, how is old Ironball Isaac doing? I haven't seen him since he entered the monastery-"  
  
"Ironball Isaac?"  
  
Sternenoff laughed. "That was his name back in high school. He used to be quite the pitcher."  
  
Buttercup's eyes widened as she tried to imagine the old, wise monk playing baseball. She found she couldn't withstand the comic scene, and began to giggle.  
  
"I'm not kidding! He was-"  
  
"Ah-hem." Blossom now sat on her desk, an eyebrow raised in agitation. "I believe we have an appointment to keep with the Dean, Professor Sternenoff?"  
  
The professor looked back at the redhead, then back to Buttercup. He grinned, shook his head, then raised an eyebrow towards the redhead.   
  
"If you want to not make any friends, keep it up, Miss Utonium. You're doing a fine job right now." With that, he gestured towards the doorway, the two girls surmising that they were to follow him.  
  
Buttercup's eyes widened for a moment at the brazenness of the Professor's remark, but she shook her head quickly and followed, not wanting to be left behind.  
  
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"You'll be in a class with JUNIORS?" Judy exclaimed when the black-haired girl came back to their shared room. The redhead smiled, a wide grin with no taint of jealousy behind it.   
  
"I can't believe it! So- you'll be two years ahead of your entire class with English, huh?"  
  
"Not just English," Buttercup said, blushing a little. The Dean had arranged for her and Blossom to take certain tests while they'd been in his office. Apparently, her Latin and Mathematics were also beyond the level classes in which she'd been scheduled. "They put me in Latin IV and Calculus, as well," the girl admitted.  
  
"You are sooooo smart!" Judy exclaimed, grinning. "Oh my gosh- you must be like- a super genius or something!"  
  
Buttercup scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "I'm not really a genius or anything- I just... was prepared better in those areas. Now when it comes to Geography and History," the emerald-eyed girl made a face, "I completely stink. The only reason I passed the tests for entrance here was because Brother Isaac pounded the information into my stubborn head until I COULDN'T forget it."  
  
Judy giggled, then smiled. "Well, you're in luck. Those are my best areas- Father thought it best that I know the world inside and out so whenever I took over for him, I would know everything there was to know about our business associates and their backgrounds."  
  
"Huh." Buttercup blinked. "I didn't know there was so much work included in being an heiress."  
  
The redhead sighed. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't my Father's daughter. I wish I could be a normal girl... I'd even settle to be poor, if that's what it took. Just so I didn't have all this pressure on me..."  
  
The emerald-eyed girl felt a lurch in her heart. She'd tried so hard to escape her past, and now... no. She HAD escaped her past. Judy was still fighting her past, and she was now faced with being forced into a future she didn't want.  
  
Buttercup couldn't envy her at all. She cleared her throat to speak, trying to find something in the few seconds of silence to try and comfort her roommate... her friend.  
  
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, a knock came on the girls' dorm room door. Holding up a finger, Buttercup told Judy to "Hold that thought," then went to answer the door.   
  
When she opened it, Bubbles stood in front of her, smiling.   
  
"Hi! I hope you don't mind- I asked around to find out where you lived after we met yesterday, and I wanted to stop by to say hello-" Suddenly Bubbles noticed Judy sitting in the middle of the room, and she waved.   
  
"Hi Judy! I didn't know you and Jade were roommates! That's so cool!"  
  
"Hi Bubbles!" The red haired heiress replied, rather embarrassed by the blonde's extrovertedness. Bubbles walked past Buttercup, who smiled, also embarrassed by Bubbles's... well, bubbliness.  
  
"Wow- this is a really nice room you two have here. My sister's and mine isn't nearly as hooked up as yours-" the teen said, looking at Judy's side of the room. She then cast a glance at Buttercup's side and gasped despite herself. "Jade- is this... is this your side of the room?"  
  
The raven-haired girl nodded. "Simple's fine with me- I was raised in a monastery, after all- my guardians always told me that it was better to have little to worry about than numerous things that would bag oneself down."  
  
Both girls blinked. "That's... quite a saying," Judy mumbled, her eyes wide.  
  
"A monastery... wow. I've never been to one of those," Bubbles said, sitting down, Buttercup following her example by setting herself into a modest cross-leg position. The blonde laid herself out fully on the ground, placing a fist to her chin. She tilted her head to the side, giving Buttercup a questioning glance. "How did you end up growing up there? What was it like?"  
  
Buttercup did a silent meditation for a moment, then spoke, having come up with an explanation for an event such as this in the past few days.  
  
"Well, they found me when I was really young- my mother," Buttercup slightly choked on the word, "had... had abandoned me, and Brother Peter found me sitting in a small cradle basket. From that day on, the monks took care of me- then, when I turned fifteen, they told me that I had to leave them and come here, so that I could lead a somewhat normal life."  
  
"Do you miss them?" Judy asked.   
  
Buttercup nodded, raven bangs swaying. "Even though I really do like it here and everything... I really wish I could be back there, back... home." The last word came out after a slight pause, Buttercup being overly nervous with her sister in the room.  
  
"If it's any consolation, I miss my dad too," Bubbles said, sighing. Buttercup and Judy looked at the blonde with renewed interest. "I miss him, and my hopefully soon-to-be step-mom."  
  
Buttercup's emerald eyes widened slightly. "Soon-to-be... step-mom?"  
  
"Well, my dad- I never had a mom, so... I guess you could almost say she'll be my mom. She's really nice- her name's Miss Diane Keane. She and my dad have been dating for a really long time now... He's supposed to propose to her any day soon," Bubbles smiled happily. "And then I'll have both a dad AND a mom."  
  
"That must be nice," Judy said, pausing. "I don't remember my mother. She died when I was very young... Father doesn't ever talk about her that much. I have a picture..." The redhead pulled out a weathered photograph from her bosom that was wrinkled with both time and age, its edges yellowed. Within its edges lay an image of a red haired woman holding a small babe in her arms, propped against the back of a bed.  
  
"I was only just born five hours before this picture was taken," Judy explained before placing it back into the folds of her shirt. She swallowed, then smiled. "She looked so pretty... I wish I could have known her."  
  
The three girls sat, contemplating their parents. Suddenly, Judy broke the awkward silence, smiling and proceeding to stand up. "I know what will cheer us up! A shopping trip! Jade," She said, holding out a finger to the black-haired girl, "you know that what you have clothes-wise is NOT going to last a week here, let alone a semester-"  
  
"What?" Green eyes nearly popped from Buttercup's head. "Now wait just a minute-"  
  
"Oooh!" Bubbles grinned- "And we could get your hair done- it looks so plain in that long braid- maybe we could cut your hair short, or-"  
  
"No." Buttercup stated flatly, her voice devoid of all emotion. She stood up, her expression somber.   
  
"Why not?" Judy grinned. "I'm sure you'd look absolutely cute with short hair-"  
  
"No," Buttercup said, more firmly this time. If only for the fact that it would make her all the more recognizable as the childhood hero Buttercup Utonium, she wouldn't have done it. But, when added to the fact that Brother Mark had told her that female martial artists traditionally wore their hair in long braids... The girl shook her head. "It... it's important to me that I don't get it cut. My... one of my surrogate fathers told me that all great female warriors wore their hair like this, and I... want to honor him by wearing my hair as such."  
  
Bubbles blinked, then grinned. "That's fine. It was just a suggestion anyways. But Judy is right- you need to get some more clothes, or you're bound to be going to class naked before long!"  
  
"Huh?" The green-eyed girl blinked.  
  
Judy smiled, devilishly in nature. "And even if you won't cut your hair, we can at least get you a make-over. We can have the boys swooning all over you here on campus!"  
  
Buttercup turned a deep crimson at the thought of boys 'swooning' over her. "But I- the cost-"  
  
"Don't worry about the money! I'm Judy Morbucks, the heiress to the Morbucks family fortune. I'm loaded, remember?" The redhead grinned, pulling Buttercup towards the door, a cell phone in her other hand. "In fact... I know just the place where we can go! Bubbles," she called as she started to dial, "You want to come along, right?"  
  
"Sure!" The blonde exclaimed, helping Judy push the raven-haired teen out the door. Moments later, she closed it behind the three of them, Judy already speaking on her cell phone.   
  
"Walter?" she said, her eyes twinkling with excitement as Bubbles took Buttercup's other arm in her own, forcing the girl to walk between them, "Get the limo ready. Myself and two friends want to go out to Platinum Mall for the night. And no expenses are to be spared- one of my friends needs a whole new wardrobe." Smiling, the girl clicked her cell phone shut and placed it into her purse. Moments later, the girls entered and exited the elevator, then walked towards the dorm room doorway.  
  
Outside, the biggest car Buttercup had ever seen sat waiting, a butler standing in front of it with the door held open in his hand.  
  
"Well, Jade, are you ready to hit the town?" Judy asked, winking at her roommate.  
  
"Uhh..." was all the green-eyed girl had to say as she was frog-marched towards the limo by an overly excited Bubbles and a grinning Judy.  
  
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"Saint Raven, you say her name was?" a voice whispered in the dark towards the men that stood in front of it. The green-skinned man in front of it nodded, hiding his expression behind a pair of dark black shades.   
  
The fingers belonging to the voice twirled a contraption around in its clutches, its eyes looking down as the contraption swayed side to side.   
  
The voice behind the glasses snorted. "She wasn't affiliated with the Powerpuff Girls, I can tell you that much. Neither of those two fight the way that girl did- she was ruthless. Took that staff of hers and just-" he stopped, holding his bruised ribs with a free hand. His anger was apparent from the way his free hand balled into a fist. One of the other men present put a hand on his shoulder.   
  
"Well, we didn't know she was going to be there," he said, his words coming out with a slight hiss. "After all, we had the full agreement of Sir Richmond."  
  
"Saint Raven," the mysterious voice continued, then sighed. "She is definitely not affiliated with those Powerpuff brats, that much I can confirm. They are definitely not allies, that, they are not. I confirmed so much by watching the girls last night after they had confronted this... Saint."  
  
"She ran into the Powerpuff Girls?" A deep bass voice queried from behind the shaded man, its inflections slightly child-like. "And what... happened?"  
  
"They fought."  
  
"Wha...?" The sunglass-wearing leader took off his distinguished shades and stared blank at the voice's face. "What do you mean, they fought? I thought that this Saint Raven character was on the same side as those brats!"  
  
"Apparently not," the voice continued. "For you see, they actually fought with intense amounts of anger. Anger in large amounts, you see. It was only after moments of this that both sides stepped down, the Powerpuffs actually retreating."  
  
"What?" All five men in front of the voice exclaimed. The shaded man smiled widely. "Retreated, huh?"  
  
"Indeed," the voice growled happily. "This 'Saint' girl was too much for them- and the only power I saw her use was the ability of flight! She did not use any kind of other power- not speed, not laser vision- just flight- and even that... was not an extenuating factor. It did not matter! She took them down-"  
  
"Just as she took down me," the shaded man said. "How... interesting. Did you happen to catch what happened after that?"  
  
"After the Powerpuff Girls left, the girl headed back, but in the same direction as those brats."  
  
"Really... hmm. That could be interesting. So... what should we do about this?"  
  
The voice remained silent for a second, its brain contemplating the objectives. "Send out an... invitation to this brat, this... 'Saint'. I have a hunch about her."  
  
"A hunch? What do you mean?"  
  
"The kind you get all the time, Mr. Ace Green. The kind of hunch that tells you to buy a certain stock, to... perform a certain task."  
  
"Yeah, but you're the one who gives me those kind of tips," Ace replied.  
  
"And this time, you will comply. Else... I may be forced to suggest to others that you are affiliated... with myself. With me, with... the image as well as the person you see in front of you."  
  
Ace's eyes turned to slits. "That's blackmail."  
  
"On the contrary, that's business. You give secrets, but hold your own. That's how the world of economics works."  
  
"You're a monster."  
  
"I'd say you're the worst person to hold that statement to me, Mr. Green. After all, one could almost say that you are the one who does the deeds nowadays."  
  
Ace stood up, turned around, and motioned for the rest of the Green firm to walk towards the door behind them. Before the men had touched the handle, Ace turned and gave the mysterious person a deep look into the eyes.   
  
"You do anything- and I mean anything- that screws with our business reputation, and I swear I'll come for revenge, Mojo."  
  
"I promise, nothing bad will happen to your business... yet. As long as you do exactly what I tell you."  
  
Ace turned around and left, leaving the psychotic genius behind in his wake. Mojo fingered the contraption in his hands, his eyes half-slits.   
  
"It has been ten years... it has been a decade. I wonder, is it possible, probable, that the theory I have about this... 'Saint' character is correct? No others, no one, not a person, has shown the ability to fly in the ten years since..." Mojo's eyes closed, and the demented monkey grinned.   
  
"Even if my theory is incorrect, but not correct... there is still the matter of a possible ally."   
  
Eyes wizened by a decade of wear looked out from their perch on the top of the former Townsville Volcano. If his theory was correct, it could mean the ultimate form of blackmail. And if they weren't, he'd still most likely have a superhero at his disposal.   
  
Either way, he won.   
  
Cackles filled the air as Mojo Jojo laughed with no inhibitions. Insane glee would replace the years of maddening wondering, searching for a way to bring back his happy insanity tonight. Now, he was certain, the feeling was here to stay.  
  
Oh, and was it good.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Blossom Utonium sat on her bed, reading the set of novels she'd been given for her new English class. Works by Huxley, Nietzsche, and Hemmingway lined the edge of her bed, her current appetite for reading being appeased by Hugo. The redhead half-grinned as she fed her brain more knowledge.   
  
It was sometimes tiring, being perfect. You had to be constantly on your guard, watching out for people who wanted to take your top spot.   
  
Like that Jade Raven girl.   
  
Blossom closed her eyes in agitation. Never, never had she been beaten at being number one in her class, let alone beaten at being teacher's pet. This girl was harping in on her territory.  
  
Wait... harping in... Blossom sat straight up, putting down Hugo and opening her eyes.   
  
"I won't harp in on your territory," Saint Raven had said.  
  
Saint Raven... Jade Raven... Blossom let their images flash before her eyes. One was a sarcastic villigante who was as tight-fisted with her hands as she was with her words. The latter was a mild-mannered high school student with an intelligence that rivaled her own.   
  
Beyond that, Blossom told herself. Look beyond that.  
  
Blossom closed her eyes and concentrated. Both of them were roughly the same height, about the same age, the same complexion... suddenly something occurred to the redhead.   
  
Both of them had long black braids.  
  
"Yes!" she smiled aloud. That hairstyle- that long black braid, was distinctive enough to make an assumption on. No one she knew wore their hair like that- No one except for both Miss Jade Raven and Saint Raven. Which would be quite the coincidence if they weren't the same person.  
  
How the hell had the girl learned to fly? From all appearances, Jade appeared to be a normal human girl. But now that she thought about it...  
  
Bubbles had said she had 'run into' Jade in the hallway after their fight. How much of that had been coincidence? The raven-haired teen was certainly smart enough to have pulled the wool over their eyes that first night they'd met. Who was to say that she had not been testing Bubbles in that hallway? Watching for weaknesses?  
  
Blossom proceeded to bite her left thumbnail in agitation. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. Even if Jade/Saint Raven said that she was on their side, how could she be completely certain of that? She didn't know the girl well enough, and she HAD hurt Ace Green-not that she'd minded per say, but court threats had unfortunately kept the girls off their back, and neither she nor Bubbles could go against them unless they had concrete proof that they weren't the honest, hard working men they pretended to be. Blossom shook her head. Ace Green...  
  
Suddenly a fantastic idea sprung into the girl's head. Green. Jade/Saint Raven had... green eyes. And black hair. She was about the right age...  
  
No. It was... it had to be impossible! Buttercup- Blossom winced, thinking of the name. Buttercup had held green eyes, as well as black hair. No way… there could be absolutely no way that Jade Raven could be Buttercup Utonium… was there?  
  
Connections were made in her mind, things started to click together. The way that 'Jade' had stood up for Bubbles whenever she, Blossom, had given a reality check to her sister. The way she'd been brought up- a monastery, huh? Likely story. And Saint Raven… Blossom shut her eyes and remembered the scuffle she'd been in with the 'superhero'. Superhero her ass, she thought, then removed all other thoughts, focusing.  
  
The way she'd moved about, it had almost been like dancing to her. She'd quickly evaded any sort of attack, any sort of strike that either she or Bubbles had thrown her way. And now that she came to think about it…   
  
There. That was it. The moment when she'd locked Bubbles foot and spun her away, that 'Saint Raven'. The look she'd had in her eyes- the look that Blossom knew, to her core, was Buttercup's.   
  
The same look she'd seen Jade Raven wear whenever she'd defended that stupid ex-Princess, Judy Morbucks. There was no doubt in her mind now. Jade Raven… was Buttercup Utonium.  
  
The fact sunk in, and Blossom's pink eyes nearly flew out of her head. She- Buttercup- everyone had thought she had died, that she'd been killed for sure when she'd run away years ago. How many tears, how many times, had Blossom thought about hurting herself for what she'd done all those years ago as a five year old? How many times had she thought about sui- No. Not now. This was not the time to lose her nerve. Buttercup was alive.  
  
Buttercup was alive and she hadn't told them. No, what she had done was even worse than that. She'd come back… but not come back to them. She had come back for herself, for a new start… not to any of them. She'd come back to torment them- to torment Bubbles, herself, and the Professor!   
  
Red eyebrows furrowed with anger. She'd lived with the guilt of being the one who'd pushed her sister away for a decade now, and someone had to pay up for all that pain she'd endured.   
  
Time for someone lean and green to pay their dues. Oh, yes, Buttercup would pay. Would she ever. And it would be equal to all the pain, torment, and sorrow that she'd had to go through herself, as well as Bubbles and the Professor's pain. And even more to pay for the torment she'd caused just by coming back into their lives.  
  
Blossom looked at the clock, and smiled. She had just enough time…  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Honey?" Dianne Keane asked her boyfriend of long-standing years. She was sitting in the living room, fixing the vase of flowers that he'd brought for her today. Or at least, she had been until the news had started on this story of theirs.  
  
  
  
"Yes?" Utonium answered from the kitchen. He tilted his head outward from the doorway. He clasped the box he'd been carrying around with him in his right hand as he answered her. He still hadn't gotten the courage yet.  
  
"Honey, come in here and look at this," Miss Keane repeated, stopping her flower arrangement and continuing to stare at the television.   
  
"Huh?" Professor Utonium asked, wiping his hands off on a towel and walking in. He looked towards where she motioned, and sat down.   
  
The television screen was on, and the newsman kept speaking. "…the new vigilante that has been seen all over town. Saint Raven is what the locals are calling this new arrival on the scene. Although no one has gotten a clear shot of her face, we did happen to get one photo sent into us by a Peter Parker- who miraculously managed to get a half-decent photo of the girl while in mid-flight."  
  
A picture was shown on the television screen, which eventually faded back into the upper right corner, revealing the Mayor of Townsville.   
  
"I do not know who this Saint Ra is-" a red-haired woman kneeled forward in his ear, and he blinked and cleared his throat, "I mean, Saint Raven, is, but the City of Townsville would like to thank this young lady personally for her services. If anyone has any information about this young lady, there is a coldline-" another reminder from the red haired woman, "hotline on the bottom of the screen. Uh- and thank you!"  
  
The picture stayed on the screen for a few minutes, showing a blurry image of a girl with a long black braid and a green ensemble. Diane scrutinized it for a minute. "You know, that girl does look kind of familiar. I wonder- maybe I've had her in class before."   
  
"She does look familiar," Professor Utonium said, placing a forefinger and thumb against his chin, his brain searching for a match-up to the girl in front of him. He shook his head. "I recognize her too, but I can't place it. Oh well."  
  
The news man went back to another story, and Diane smiled. "But let's forget about the news for now. You said you had something special planned for tonight?"   
  
"Well- I-" The Professor pulled out the box that he'd been fingering for the past several days, and wiped a bead of sweat off his brow.  
  
"Diane, I- I should have done this sooner. I know that I'm not half the man you deserve- not the smartest, or the wealthiest- hell, I'm just a poor scientist whose only claim to fame is the daughters he created. I know that I'm not worthy of it, but I- I-" He kneeled in front of her and held the box in front of him.  
  
"You what?" Miss Keane asked, her eyes wide with wonder.  
  
He opened the box and looked into her blue eyes. "I- Would- Would you marry me?"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Aww! I thought I'd leave the chapter on that note, and get into the nitty-gritty stuff next chapter. ^_~ Then again, who's to say what Miss Keane's answer will be? ^_^ Stay tuned- Chapter 10 is on the way! :D 


	10. Family Asunder

A/N: Ooohhh... cliffhanger. Evil, am I? *shakes head* Nope! Just a psychotic, demented Saberpilot. ^_^  
  
To all the Blossom fans: Believe it or not, I am NOT a Blossom hater. ^_~ Just trust me on this. :) I know it's hard, but trust me. I tried to make the girls' reactions true to reality (-_-... several nights' worth of studying her psych. books...) so just trust me on how much I tried to 'keep it real'. ^_~  
  
Special Thanks to Bryn, the Beta-reader sent straight from Heaven. *huggles*  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"No, this outfit's better-"  
  
"No, I like this one-"  
  
"Uh..." Buttercup looked between Judy and Bubbles, both of whom were vying for the emerald-eyed girl's attention. While the redhead held out a snappy collared shirt and bellbottomed jeans, the blonde held up a cute miniskirt and baby tee ensemble. Buttercup raised a hand towards both of them.  
  
"Really, they're both very nice, but I-"  
  
"What? Don't you like it?" Judy asked, looking down at the snazzy outfit she'd picked. Bubbles looked at her own findings, then back at Buttercup.  
  
"What's the matter with them?"  
  
"Well... they're not really my style, if you want to know," Buttercup said, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Plain clothes will do well enough for me."  
  
Judy and Bubbles looked at each other, and sighed at the same time. Suddenly, another group of clothes were pulled out from behind their backs.   
  
"We thought you'd say that," Judy said, pushing a long-sleeved green shirt towards her, accompanied by a pair of plain black slacks. "But... we'd hoped that you might try something more... I don't know, teenager-like?"   
  
Buttercup grimaced slightly. "Well, I... It's just that," the teen tried to explain. "Simple has always worked for me, and... there was an art lesson I once learned from one of my surrogate fathers... Brother Issac."  
  
"A lesson?"  
  
"Yes..." Buttercup said, smiling and remembering.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Jade," Brother Issac said to the raven-haired pre-teen that sat in front of him, "tell me what we have studied thus far in art."  
  
The eleven-year old bit her lip, then started to speak. "Icons are the symbolic representation of a saint or martyr of the church. The most common personages used are of the Holy Lady and Her Son."  
  
"Very good. Continue, please."  
  
"Besides religious purposes, art can be used as a political weapon, meant to poke fun or respond to a state of government or a law. They would often portray current highly ranked figures as beneath their status, comparing them to beasts, usually."  
  
"Good. More."  
  
"Art can also be used to relieve or present a feeling or idea in the form of sculpture. One of the most famous artists for using that technique was Picasso."  
  
"Very good. Now, Jade, can you tell me why Picasso is considered one of the best artists of our time?" Brother Issac asked, sitting down on his desk.   
  
Buttercup placed a finger to her mouth, then spoke. "Because his pieces are so... deep?"  
  
"Yes. And what is it about them that makes them so deep?"  
  
"I... I don't know," The green-eyed girl admitted.   
  
"They're so deep, so soulful, because he uses simplistic shapes, lines, and colors to convey his message to the viewer. Although a painting with more detail and a wider array of colors may be to some, a true piece of art, there is still the matter that Picasso's work has outlasted most of these artists. Can you imagine why?"  
  
"Because... they're simple?"  
  
Brother Issac nodded. "Not only are simpler images able to have their message conveyed to a larger audience, but in their simplicity they express the depth of their true message. In essence, my little Newton," he said, calling her by his pet name, "because the painting is simplistically done, it is more elegant."  
  
"So things that are... simple in nature are often more beautiful?"  
  
"Yes," the monk nodded. "Yes, they are."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Wow... that really does look good on you," Judy blinked, looking at the simply-dressed girl. Buttercup had donned the black slacks and dark green shirt; she now pushed her black braid over her right shoulder, giving her a nearly regal aura. A small necklace pendant, its design unseen, rested suggestively near her bosom. Bubbles blinked as well, inspecting the newly-dressed teen.   
  
Something about the green shirt she wore tugged at the back of her mind. It was almost as if she'd known her from somewhere else... but no, she laughed inwardly, that couldn't be. This was Jade Raven, a student at Morgan's she'd just met about three days ago. Before that, she'd been raised in a monastery.   
  
So naturally, there was no way she could've known her before that.   
  
It was probably just the way that they naturally seemed to have taken to one another- Bubbles giggled to herself. Perhaps they'd been sisters in another life.  
  
"It does look good. It makes you look- well, it makes you look older," Bubbles pointed out to the emerald-eyed girl. She giggled and inspected her further, walking around her. "I don't understand it. Such plain clothes, but on you they look like they're decked out with jewels."  
  
"Well, simple is better," Buttercup grinned. "Maybe my fashion sense isn't so bad, no?"  
  
Both Judy and Bubbles looked at each other and sighed. She'd been right about one thing: Simpler clothes DID do her justice.   
  
"I guess," Judy said. "It's really too bad though. I really liked these clothes..." she mewed unhappily.  
  
"Then buy them for yourself," Buttercup winked as she walked back towards the changing rooms. Judy looked down at the pants and shirt she was holding, and laughed.   
  
"You're right. I think I WAS buying for myself. Get changed quick, I want to get something to eat now. Aren't you hungry?"  
  
"A little," Buttercup admitted through the changing stall. Judy looked at Bubbles, who nodded, being hungry herself.   
  
"Awesome! We can just-" Suddenly Bubbles stopped mid-sentence, pointing at one of the store's big screen televisions. On it, the local Townsville news was occurring. A large blurry image of a girl with a black braid and green ensemble appeared on the screen. Judy stared at Bubbles, who had gone silent.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
Bubbles merely pointed at the television, then scrutinized the picture. She walked over to the set and peered some more.  
  
"What is it, Bubbles?" Judy queried again.  
  
"That girl- my sister and I fought her the other night." Bubbles looked at the streaming text at the bottom of the screen. "Someone got ahold of a picture of her. Guess we aren't the only ones who've run into her."   
  
"Wait- you fought her?" Judy said, her eyes becoming wide. "She- is she another type of villian? Is she in league with Mojo or-"  
  
Bubbles shook her head. "No, nothing like that. My sister and I ran into her the other night whenever Blossom saw someone flying towards Townsville. Turns out that Ace Green had been trying to hurt some poor gas station clerk, and that this girl, whoever she is, stopped him."  
  
"And you... you fought her?"  
  
"Yes," Bubbles said, shaking her head. "And she was stronger than anyone I know I've fought before. Even Blossom was strained. She was fast as lightning, that girl- that... oh! I remember her name now- that 'Saint Raven'- that's what she called herself. Fast as lightning, and she had reflexes unlike any I've ever seen."  
  
"But you said that she's not another villian?"  
  
"No, she's not," Bubbles said. "She just seems to be another superhero- a villigante, though- I've never seen anything about her before this. She could fly around, but besides that we don't really know anything about her powers." The blonde blinked, watching as the screen faded back into the normal Townsville News broadcast. "I do wish I knew more about her, though. She seemed really nice."  
  
"You think everyone's nice, Bubbles. If you didn't, you never would have even thought about becoming my friend."  
  
"You're too hard on yourself, Judy. You're no longer that child from long ago, remember?" Bubbles smiled, then turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, Jade... are you done changing in there, yet?"   
  
"Almost," Buttercup stated, then placed her hand over her racing heart. The last few minutes of her friends' conversation had caused her to pause in shock. Her picture was on the news. What if... what if Bubbles... Not just Bubbles, what if anyone figured it out? That she was Saint Raven? It wouldn't be a far leap for them to figure out that if Saint Raven could fly, had black hair, green eyes... well, it'd be easy to put together Saint Raven and Buttercup Utonium, and from there it was only linking Jade Raven to Buttercup.  
  
Shaking herself out of it, Buttercup put on her former clothes quickly. It would take someone with a critical eye to put the two identities she now had together, let alone the two she had now with the one from her former life. What had she to worry about? Nothing. Nothing at all. Buttercup smiled. Bubbles hadn't figured it out, and Blossom hadn't shown any signs from what little she'd seen of her. There was nothing to worry about.   
  
Smiling, Butterup fixed her shirt's position quickly, then pushed the fitting room door open. "I'm done!" she told the two girls. Judy smiled, then shook her head.   
  
"About time, slowpoke! Here, give me those-" she said, ripping the clothes Buttercup had been holding out of her hands. She gave the raven-haired girl a wink. "I don't know about you, Jade, but I'm starving. After this, we're going to have Walter drive us out somewhere to eat. So just wait here, and I'll be with you in a minute. I have to pay for these." With that, the auburn-headed girl ran towards the nearest cashier.   
  
Buttercup blinked as she watched Judy run off. Bubbles laughed.   
  
"She is quite the strong-minded one, isn't she?" Bubbles giggled. Buttercup laughed, then nodded.   
  
"You're right about that." The girl smiled then pushed her braid behind her.   
  
A long black braid. Deeply hidden, but definately green eyes. That smile... Bubbles blinked in confusion. Memories started to surface within the blonde's head, and she shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. Jade Raven. Saint Raven. She looked at Jade closely.  
  
The girl was smiling, waiting patiently for Judy to return. Bubbles looked at the girl... really looked. Dark black hair, green eyes... but... there was no way, was there?  
  
"Jade-" Bubbles started. The raven-haired girl turned and smiled.   
  
"Yes?" That welcoming smile. That open expression. There was absolutely no way that Jade could even be remotely like Saint Raven. There wasn't a mean bone in that girl's body.   
  
"...nothing," Bubbles said, smiling at Jade. "I just- I just forgot what I was going to say," she giggled. The black-haired teenager giggled right back.   
  
"That's okay. Ask me whenever you remember, okay?"  
  
"Okay," the blonde promised.  
  
"Well, here we are," Judy said, scrambling back from the cashier's in a mad dash. She pushed a large bag into Jade's hands. "These are yours-" she started, then pushed another towards Bubbles, "These are yours, and these," she said, hugging a bag close to herself, "Are mine. Don't you dare-" She started, noticing that Jade was starting to open up her bag to inspect the clothes inside. "Not until we get back."   
  
She winked. "And now, I think it's time that we had something to eat. Wouldn't you agree?" Judy pulled her cell phone from her purse and quickly dialed. She held the device up to her ear.   
  
"Walter? Yes, we're ready. No, not yet. I want to stop somewhere and pick up something to eat first. We're near the-" a pause as Judy glanced around, "-South entrance. We'll be outside in two minutes."  
  
With a quick click, Judy closed the cell and looked at her two friends, a wide grin on her face.   
  
"Well. Are we ready to go?"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"So everything is proceeding according to plan," the primate Mojo Jojo said, looking at the television screen. "The press believed that stupid story I concocted about a college student named Parker submitting that photo."  
  
He swirled the wine that resided in the cocktail glass he held, staring at it with a set of dark pupils. Soon, he would dispose of those pawns that he'd carefully cultivated, and reach out to possess his greatest prize yet- the prodigal daughter that had returned.   
  
It did not surprise him that she had come back home to the city that she'd left behind. What had surprised him was the amount of time it had taken. He'd assumed ten years ago, that Buttercup Utonium would have returned within a month. Then, it had been two months. Then three. A year. Two years. Finally, after five years, Mojo had all but given up hope.   
  
Then, two days ago, all his hopes had been rekindled.   
  
He'd seen a black-haired girl clad in green fighting Ace Green in the local quick-stop store. Ace had guessed, correctly, that the Powerpuff Girls would be too busy to deal with a little store holdup. They were nearly adults now, and although they were superheroes, it would be selfish for the city to think that they would not be allowed to grow up in a reasonably normal fashion.  
  
Ahh... the Powerpuff Girls. They hadn't seemed to realize the identity of the person they'd been fighting. Although, from the expression on the raven haired girl's face... she had known exactly who they were.  
  
It wasn't hard to assume that the two girls wouldn't know their sister, though. It had been a decade, now that he thought about it, and times can change a person. The small, cherubic face of Buttercup Utonium barely whispered of a resemblance to the now-fifteen, and fully honed, face of the 'Saint Raven'.   
  
Saint Raven... what an archaic name. Mojo pulled the glass towards his apeish lips and suckled the sweet wine from its innards. He wondered where she'd gotten the background to choose such a name as that. The Buttercup of long ago was an uncultured fighter, not a learned young woman.   
  
Such a change bespoke of years of training. Obviously, the girl had been taught of culture... and other things, if her fighting style was to be observed. Mojo had recognized a few of the choice moves the girl had performed, and the staff that she used was not a symbol to be taken lightly.   
  
Saint Raven. Raven. Appropriate with the hair color. But 'Saint'? Since when had the Powerpuff Girls ever been religious? They were products of science, after all...  
  
It hit Mojo like a ton of bricks. Religion. Training. Learning. There were both a monestary and a convent he'd heard of outside of the city. Most likely she'd been the product of one of these.  
  
The monkey grinned. All he had to do now was deduce which she'd come from. With that information, he'd be able to find out her whereabouts, her secrets... all sorts of things that could be used against the returned superhero. And not just her. Oh, no...  
  
Professor Utonium, as well as Blossom and Bubbles, would be in for a world of hurt if they found out that their little runaway had returned without seeking them out. They would want knowledge, want reasons, want an explanation.   
  
A devilish grin reflected light from the moon. An explanation they would recieve, then. And with an explanation, concocted by himself, of course, he would not only have their hearts in his palm, but power over the one Powerpuff that had managed to escape his decade's worth of plots. For if he guessed correctly, she had been pained by her little escapade with her sisters the other night.  
  
Yes. Victory was soon his...  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"You're back late," Blossom Utonium remarked brusquely to her blonde-haired sister that walked into the dormitory room. She turned another page, her mind barely on the Hemmingway in front of her.  
  
Bubbles laughed, the after-effects of a girls' night out still lingering. She smiled and placed a bag filled with goods purchased by Judy on her bed.   
  
"Oh, but it was so much fun- Judy, Jade and I made a night of it- Jade has barely any real clothes, you see- she was raised in a monestary and doesn't have-"  
  
"Jade and Judy, you say?" Blossom turned another page.  
  
Bubbles frowned slightly at her sister. "Isn't that what I said? Anyways, we went out to buy her some clothes- you'd be surprised, but apparently the 'Plain Jane' look does work on some people-"  
  
"You're good friends, huh?"  
  
"Blossom, since you're so obviously set on telling me something, why don't you just spit it out?" Bubbles asked, placing her hands on her hips. "I swear, sometimes you-"  
  
"Does Jade... remind you of anyone, Bubbles?"  
  
The blonde raised an eyebrow, then placed a finger to her chin. "You know, she does, sometimes. It's a familiarity that scratches at the back of my mind, but I never seem to be able to put my finger on it, exactly. I don't know," she smiled, pulling out the baby blue tee that she'd picked out earlier. Although the two were Powerpuff Girls, they made a habit out of wearing normal clothes- well, Bubbles did, anyway. Blonde pigtails slightly shook as Bubbles tilted her head to the side.  
  
"I don't know," she reiterated, "but I really don't care, either. She's a really nice girl, Blossom. If you'd get to know her, I'm sure you'd-"  
  
"I don't want to get to know her."  
  
"Blossom, why on earth are you being so bitchy about her?" Bubbles spat, her jaw tightened in disgust. "She's a perfectly nice person, if you'd actually take the time to get to know her. But no. You've been nothing but against ever since you laid eyes on her." The blonde snorted for a moment, then shook her head. "And not just to her, but to everyone- to me, to the professors, to all of the other students. What's gotten into you? You weren't nearly this bad even when we were still at home-"  
  
"What got into me," Blossom started, "is common sense. What got into you, I think, is a case of blindness."  
  
"Blossom, what the hell do you think you're-"  
  
"Green eyes. Jade colored. Black hair. Almost a raven color, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"What are you getting at?" Bubbles angrily hissed.  
  
"I'm saying that we knew someone else with exactly that description. And Jade Raven happens to also fit that exact profile. And she'd be about the right age. You did say she seemed familiar to you-"   
  
"Wait a second. You're... you think that Jade Raven is... is Buttercup?" Bubbles then burst out laughing, to the anger of her sister.  
  
"What? What's so damn funny, Bubbles?"  
  
"I'm sorry, it's just that-" Bubbles wiped a tear from her eye, "I'm sorry, Blossom, but that just can't be. Jade may bear a little resemblance to Buttercup physically, but she sure as hell doesn't act like she did. There's not a mean bone in that girl's body. There's absolutely no way that she's Buttercup."  
  
"Time can change a person," Blossom said, putting down her book. She looked at her sister with a serious expression. "After all... look at us."  
  
"Look at you, is more like it!" Bubbles snorted. "Blossom, I hate to say it, but since Buttercup left ten years ago, you've become nothing but a hard-hearted, stone cold bitch!" The redhead stood aback at her sister's harsh words. "Nothing but training, strategy, and pent up frustration- that's what you've become."  
  
Blossom's eyes grew wide. "But what-"  
  
"Don't stop me now that I've started," Bubbles spat, clenching her fists. "I've had this building up for a long time now, and you owe it to me as your sister to at least hear me out."  
  
The blonde turned around for a second, collecting her thoughts. She finally turned to face Blossom. "Blossom, I realize that you're still carrying that load- that guilt that you drove Buttercup away. Listen to me- we were five, for God's sake. A normal, healthy person would have realized the mistake, no matter how horrible the consequences, and eventually grown from it. But no. Not you."  
  
"You've stagnated into a cold-hearted bitch who has nothing but fighting and intelligence on your mind. If it doesn't make you smarter, it has to make you tougher. If it doesn't do either, then it's not worth it. And don't you even dare deny it-" Bubbles said when Blossom held up a finger to interject. The blonde stopped her stoic act, unable to bear it anymore. She turned, looking out the dorm room window, trying to hide the welling tears.   
  
"After all, since I didn't have any use to you, I became unworthy to be your sister."   
  
"Bubbles, no- I-" Something inside Blossom was tearing, peeling away. She felt as if a dam was breaking open inside her.  
  
"Don't try and deny it. You've been cold, sister. Colder than you can ever know. And this jealousy- this act of trying to make Jade into something she's not- is just another attempt at undermining my happiness. She's my friend, Blossom. Just as Judy is. But you'll never know what friendship is if you keep up the way you have."  
  
Bubbles looked back, into a pair of widened pink eyes. "I've tried, Blossom. I've tried to be kind, I've tried to be nice- I've tried to put up with everything and pretend like it wasn't happening. But I can't do it anymore- I can't lie to myself and say that you'll treat me like the sister I am, that I've tried to be. That's why..." A look of quick decisiveness crossed her face, and the blonde picked up the new bag of clothes she'd just brought in.   
  
"That's why I'm going to stay with Jade and Judy for a while. At least, until you think I'm worthy enough to be your sister." The pigtailed girl turned and went to the door, but Blossom ran and caught her arm as she tried to leave.   
  
"Please- I know I've been a jerk, but I-"  
  
Bubbles shook her hand free of her sister's grasp, tears in her eyes. "Goodbye, Blossom. When you're ready to tell me I can be your sister again, you know where I'll be."   
  
With that, the blonde opened the door and slammed it into her sister's face, leaving the stunned redhead behind.  
  
"No..." she whispered. She clutched her chest, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest from beating so painfully fast. The redhead collapsed onto her knees, tears starting to stream from her face.  
  
First Buttercup, ten years ago. Now Bubbles. She'd lost them. She'd lost them both. She was all alone- she, Blossom, was all alone. The Powerpuff girl... no, not just the Powerpuff... she, the young woman, Blossom Utonium, was alone. All because she'd indirectly pushed them away.  
  
She should have known better than to be accusational, to be jealous of her sister's ability to find friends... to have fun. She should have been a better sister to Bubbles... should have been a better sister to Buttercup...   
  
Buttercup... all the anger that she'd held against Jade Raven, the girl that might have been... or rather, was, Buttercup, faded. No wonder the girl had run away. She'd been a little bitch, even at the age of five. And now that same attitude had lost her Bubbles, as well.   
  
Blossom shook as something flooded open within herself. Her heart, her very being, trembled as the first tears started to paint the floor. Moments later, the Powerpuff found herself laying on the floor, sobbing.   
  
She missed them. She needed them. Both of them. Bubbles. Buttercup. If she didn't have them, she was nothing. And now she didn't have either of them.  
  
Her sobs continued long into the night.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"And then she comes up with this bullshit theory that you-" Bubbles shook with anger, "are apparently Buttercup, our long-lost sister. My God, the girl will try anything to get attention."   
  
"Bubbles-" Judy said. The blonde's anger seemed to be diminishing, though, and a tear started to go down her cheek.   
  
"I-I've never been like this. I don't know. I just- I just couldn't take it anymore. She's been so cold to me, so I just- I just-"  
  
The blonde started to collapse onto her knees, and Jade rushed over to the girl, her own face contorted in a faint semblance of pain. Judy was only seconds behind, and she held Bubbles as the blonde shook with frustrated tears.   
  
"It'll be okay," Jade whispered, stroking the blonde's head. Her own expression was nearly unreadable. Judy placed a hand on Bubbles' shoulder, unsure of what to do, exactly.  
  
"I never meant to hurt her-" Bubbles sobbed. "I never meant to hurt her. She's- she's all I've got left, since Buttercup's gone. I just- I couldn't take it anymore, and I just-"  
  
"Shh," Jade said, continuing to stroke the girl's hair. Judy gave the girl an encouraging grin. "It'll be okay, I'm sure of it," She said, mirroring Judy's expression. "It'll be okay," she reiterated.  
  
The two girls, one with raven hair, and one auburn, continued to comfort the girl until she sobbed herself to sleep. When Bubbles eventually tired herself out, Jade picked up the girl by herself, to Judy's amazement, and laid her out on her own bed. Her eyes were pained.  
  
"Is she- she'll be all right, won't she?" the technological genius asked, anxious. Jade gave an encouraging smile, although her eyes were still strained.   
  
"She should be fine. I tired myself out once, crying. Brother Mark woke me up the next morning- said I just needed some rest. As long as nothing disturbs her, she should be fine." With that, the black-haired girl headed towards the dorm room door.  
  
"Wait- where are you going, Jade?" Judy asked, her expression anxious. The raven haired teen paused a moment, then turned back to face Judy.  
  
"I'm going to talk to her sister. Maybe I can clear some of this confusion up, get them talking again."  
  
"Jade- Bubbles said that Blossom thought you were Buttercup Utonium." A slight pause hung in the air, as heavy as a stormcloud. Judy looked into her roommate's eyes. "She- she wasn't right, was she?"  
  
Jade sighed, a deep, hurtful sigh. She looked back at Judy, her heart feeling as though it might rip from her own chest. She gave a weak smile. "Now what would make you think that? It's not as if I look like her." With that, Jade stepped out to the hallway, towards the Powerpuffs' room, leaving Judy behind in her wake.  
  
The stunned auburn's mind whirled. Jade would be about the right age... but how would the alien to the city of Townsville know what the long-ago girl known as Buttercup looked like, unless... No. There was no way. And yet- Judy's eyes grew wide.  
  
"...Buttercup?"  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Buttercup's heart felt torn in two as she walked further away from the room that she and Judy shared. She hated this. Hated lying, hated not being able to ease her sister Bubbles' heart by telling her that it was her, Buttercup- that she was back for good, for always. And yet...  
  
And yet she liked that anonymity.  
  
Blossom had apparently suspected her, and Bubbles had not responded well to it. Big surprise there. From what she'd seen, the teen Blossom hadn't been a big change from the child. Well, it was time to face facts.   
  
If Blossom wanted to continue to torment her, Jade Raven, that was fine. But to hurt her sister so badly that she would pass out from crying- that was not cool. Not cool at all.   
  
Buttercup stopped at the door that was the place where Bubbles and her sister Blossom resided. The green-eyed teen closed her eyes for a minute, focusing all her attention on the sounds inside.   
  
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.   
  
The weather outside had turned from its normal pale mist into a rainstorm, gentle taps falling onto the building and its windows. Buttercup opened her eyes. Save for the gentle touches left by the raindrops, nothing- no noise at all, was inside the room in front of her.   
  
Time to face the music.   
  
Buttercup twisted the knob to open the door, then took a step back, ready for anything. What she did not expect was the ragged mess of a girl she saw on the ground, cheeks stained with trails of tears. The redhaired mess looked up at her, and visibly flinched at the sight.  
  
"So. It's you."  
  
"I've come."  
  
"Why... why did you have to-"  
  
"Why did I have to, what? Come here? I'm coming here on behalf of your sister, Miss Blossom Utonium. You've put her out in a bad, bad way." Buttercup's voice was shaking, her anger becoming so great.  
  
A derisive snort answered her. "I'VE put HER in a bad way? Nice choice of words there, Miss Jade Raven," she spat. Suddenly her angry mask seemed to fall off, and she broke down on the floor. Buttercup's eyes widened.   
  
"Wha-" She started, shocked by this sudden display of emotion.   
  
"I- I did hurt her, didn't I?" Blossom stared at the floor through empty pink eyes. "I- I hurt them all. And that's why I lose them. All of them. First Buttercup, now Bubbles..." she blinked, standing up, and looked at Buttercup. She reached with a hand towards the teen's face.  
  
"You- you look like her- even act like her somewhat- that's why I thought- why I thought-"   
  
"What did you think?" Buttercup asked, her voice gentle. She took Blossom's hand into her own. She kept her voice level, praying that she did not lose her composure in this malestrom of emotion.   
  
"I thought-" Blossom's eyes widened for a second, then she shook her head, blinking away tears. "No... it was stupid. It was a figment of my hopeless imagination, trying to find some reason to hate you. To hate you for being a better sister than I am to Bubbles."  
  
"Bubbles only has one sister," Buttercup said softly. Blossom looked through the tears to the face devoid of emotion. She pushed her long black braid behind her.   
  
"Listen. You and she had a fight, right?"  
  
Blossom blinked. "I should have thought that it would be obviou-" Suddenly, she stopped, swallowing the acidic comment. She paused, then responded, "Yes."  
  
"Have you ever had a fight before?"  
  
"I-" Blossom recalled all the times before. "No... she always stopped them before they ever got started."   
  
"Then you don't know," Buttercup said, "that hurts do heal." She smiled, and rubbed the back of Blossom's hand. She looked into the distance, something about her words seeming ironic to her. She then came back to the present. "She hurts just as much as you do. I think if you go and apologize... I think things will be okay."  
  
"Why are you helping me?"  
  
Buttercup stood up, and looked into the distance once again. "I can't say, honestly. Probably because Bubbles is my friend... but mostly because I think I never fixed my own problems." She offered a hand to the redhead, coming out from her thoughts. "Are you ready to go see her?"  
  
After a moment, Blossom reached up and took her hand. She looked into the emerald eyes that were in front of her, then walked across her path towards the doorway. Before she left to go to Judy and Jade's room, she stopped.   
  
"Those past hurts... did you ever resolve them?" She asked, the words hanging in the air between the two young women.  
  
"No, I didn't."   
  
Blossom stood there for what seemed eons, her thoughts almost audible. Before she picked up her foot and headed towards the raven haired girl's room, she paused, looking back towards the emerald-eyed teen. "Thanks... for everything."  
  
With that, she headed down towards the room where her sister was, her throat tight with tension.  
  
Buttercup now stood alone in her former sisters' room. Feelings finally overtook her stoic expression, and she fell onto one knee, placing her head in her right hand. The tears fell silently onto the dorm room floor, and Buttercup shook with the pain she felt in her heart.   
  
She had known that when she was coming back, it would hurt. She had known it would be difficult. But to come between her two sisters, help them, and not be a part of what they had- it was like torture to her heart.   
  
No. She could not cry. Not now. She had come this far... she couldn't stop now. Buttercup shook with the effort to stop her own sobs. She stood up, and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.   
  
She had to use this pent up sorrow, somehow. Before it engulfed her.   
  
Buttercup meditated for a moment, letting her sorrow reform itself into something more more refined, more pointed. Vengence. She craved it. She craved to release the sorrow that she'd made into a newly formed weapon against those that tried to hurt others.  
  
Tonight. She had to go out. Buttercup opened her eyes, their green irises somehow darker than they'd been seconds ago. She rose slightly from the floor, her feet barely touching the carpet. She left the Powerpuffs' room, and ran towards the bathroom where her costume lay hidden. Only milliseconds seemed to pass during the time that she changed, so fast was her transformation from Jade Raven to Saint Raven.  
  
"It's time," she whispered, flying out of the small window of the restroom. She flew with all her being... all her anger, her pain, her sorrow.   
  
Heads would roll tonight. And they would send their feeble prayers to Saint Raven.   
  
***********************************************************************  
  
*smiles* See? I'm not a Blossom hater. *Muses Genesis and Verdell give the authoress a look.* Um... right. Anyways, the next chapter is fast in coming- what will happen to Saint Raven? To Bubbles/Blossom? Has Miss Keane answered the Professor's question yet? _ Too many questions, and not enough answers! Stay tuned! :D 


	11. Finding Blackmail

A/N: *huggles Muses until they can't breathe... and therefore, not talk* Well, I'm hoping that you're enjoying reading this so far- thank God for Spring Break- it allows good little authors and authoresses like myself to work on fics for their faithful readers. *huggles readers* Of which I am very, very grateful. I'm sorry that this hasn't come out sooner, but sadly, as soon as I came back, a round of papers greeted me in class. Ughh... .  
  
I haven't been able to respond to your last comments, unfortunately, but I hope to fix that this time around! ^_^  
  
That said, read and enjoy! (and thank God that Beta-Reader Bryn is such a good Beta-reader...)  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
She had told him yes. Yes- Oh God, yes. It was a moment in paradise, those seconds when he had asked her in his quiet, bashful way to marry him.  
  
How could she refuse those handsome gray eyes of his?  
  
They'd spent the night together, after that- nothing overly done, just... laying there in each other's arms. Basking in the moment of happiness- for she knew he was just as happy as she.   
  
Seven years, their courtship had been. Seven hard years. Many times she'd wondered if he'd ever get the courage- after all, he'd been hurt many, many times by others. By that Sedusa woman. By that Charlotte. By countless amounts of nameless women that he'd tried dating.   
  
And then he'd gotten up the courage to ask her on a date.   
  
It hadn't been anything spectacular by any means- he was a simple man when it came to romance. A quiet dinner away from his house, at a small restaraunt outside of town. Pleasant conversation about his work and the girls.   
  
The girls... she cared just as much about them as he did. She'd always wanted to have children, but had never had the time... or someone to share the joy with. With him, she had the best of both worlds- a strong shoulder to lean on, and two beautiful daughters to claim as her own.   
  
Diane Keane- or rather, Diane Utonium, to be, smiled and sipped her tea from the porcelean tea cup that she'd procured from the kitchen. He was still asleep- probably everyone was still asleep, for that matter. It was two o'clock in the morning, after all. She smiled. She'd been too excited to sleep for long, and had instead taken a quick nap in his arms.  
  
Still basking in the moment, she walked over to the living room in her robe and nightgown, and turned on the television to see the early morning news, provided free to those who lacked sleep.  
  
Some noise came from the bedroom, and Miss Keane smiled. He must have woken up, disturbed from her lack of presence. He'd be out soon, and she'd kiss him good morning, just as couples who were deeply in love did in the morning.  
  
She smiled. Nothing, nothing in this world could make her more happy than she was right now.  
  
Nothing.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
One, two, three- Those were how her punches flew into their various bodies, her mind counting out how many were given as she went about her night's work. One, two, three...  
  
She'd found release in taking care of the simple-minded gang she'd found in this late night hour. Buttercup grinned as she continued to throw her punches towards them all- one, two, three. It was a rhythm, a beat, a chant that she repeated as she continued to burn off her anger and sorrow.  
  
Seconds later, they were all down for the count, their bodies all unable to return fire. She grinned, and turned to the little boy that they'd been picking on.  
  
It disgusted her to no end to know that there were people perverted... no- sick enough to do things like this. To try and rob a little boy of his innocence. Buttercup shook her head at the very idea that people like these existed.  
  
He trembled against the alley wall, his small form shaking in fear. Buttercup smiled at him encouragingly, holding out a gloved hand to him.   
  
"Don't worry. I'm not like them. I'm here to take you home. Don't worry, little one-" she started, then was surprised to find herself embraced by the scared little child, who wept unheeded into her fighting gear. She blinked in surprise, then melted, stroking his hair in comfort.   
  
"It's okay. It's okay, little lamb," she said absent-mindedly, letting herself fall into speech similar to Brother Peter's. "It's going to be all right." The young boy wept himself tired in her arms. When his fears were finally assuaged by her continual care, he looked up at her in wonder.  
  
"Who... who are you?"  
  
Buttercup grinned. "Saint Raven."  
  
"Saint... Raven?" Another sniff, and then a small grin. "I heard about you- Mommy and Daddy were talking about you the other day," he smiled.  
  
"Really, now..." Buttercup said, standing up and gathering him into her arms. She flew up into the air slowly, as not to frighten him.  
  
"Uh-huh. And Mommy said that you-" he suddenly looked down from his position in her arms, and gasped. "Whoa..." He bit his lip, and smiled timidly at her. "We're so high up!"  
  
Buttercup grinned. It was only a few hundred meters, but to a child it seemed like eternity. She smiled and tweaked the end of his nose. "Well, I thought it'd be better to come up here so you can show me where you live," she said.  
  
"Show where I live?" the little child asked. He then paused a minute, putting his finger to his lips. "I live in O-Two-Hundred Jefferson Ave-Ave-Avenue," he said, stumbling over the last word. The raven haired heroine grinned, hugged him, then flew over towards the described area.  
  
"Over here?" She smiled.  
  
"The one with the blue front- I left my tricycle out front-" he said, now putting his thumb in his mouth. Suddenly Buttercup came upon the proscribed house, which also happened to be littered with police cars in front.  
  
"Is that it?" She asked the little package she held.  
  
"Mmm-hmmm," he responded, suckling away at his thumb.   
  
She descended gently to the ground, holding him close to her. Walking slowly, as not to disturb him, she strode towards his front door, on which she knocked softly. Milliseconds later, the door opened to reveal a set of frantic-looking parents.  
  
"Oliver? Oliver, is that-" A woman with wild eyes stopped as she saw her son being held in the arms of a green-clad woman. Buttercup grinned and handed the woman her small package.  
  
"Here," she smiled. "He's okay." When the woman opened her mouth to speak, Buttercup calmed her worries. "They didn't get a chance to do anything-"  
  
But the woman's expression of pure joy was more than enough to justify Buttercup's work. Her husband and she held their child close, the mother covering her child with kisses as he snuggled closer to his mother, tired.  
  
"How can we ever thank you?" His father asked the young woman standing in front of him. "He- they took him from right under our noses- one minute he was playing in the yard, and the next- they just-" he swallowed, and brushed his son's hair absent-mindedly.   
  
"Your happiness is payment enough," Buttercup smiled, then turned and went to fly off.The man and wife stood there, watching as she flew away. The police officer from inside suddenly walked forward and gasped when he saw the woman holding her child.   
  
"But- when did he-"  
  
"She brought him back to us," she smiled, stroking her child's head. Oliver was nearly fast asleep now, his adventures almost forgotten to him. "That girl- that Saint Raven they had on the news- she brought him back and no one even had known besides you and your squad that he was gone. She's a miracle."  
  
"She's a hero," her husband responded, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. The police chief grinned, then signaled to his squad that it was time to leave.  
  
"Let's put him to bed, okay, honey?" He asked, as his wife walked towards the innards of their house.   
  
***********************  
  
Buttercup watched from the sky as the two held their child close, hugging him and embracing him tightly. It hurt inside, seeing that. The perfect house, the perfect life... the mother, father, and child. She'd missed out on that. Even though she'd had a surrogate family, it still... it still wasn't exactly the same.  
  
Bubbles and Blossom lingered at the back of the teen's thoughts, her dealings with them earlier running through her memory. How she envied them. They'd had their father, the Professor, there for them whenever they needed him. They had each other, even though at the moment things were rocky between them.  
  
She'd never had that.   
  
Her father, the Professor, had not been there whenever she'd needed him most, and she could not forget that. Her sisters- Bubbles, Blossom... Buttercup placed her hand on her forehead.   
  
She'd been five when she'd run away, and now that she was back... she understood a greater deal than she really wanted to. At five, she'd been willing to throw everything away without working things out because she'd been so elementary in her understanding of mankind and human relationships. She hadn't understood that people could change... that people could say something and not mean it.  
  
Buttercup flew away from the boy Oliver's house, back towards Morgan's Institute. She had some things to sort out when she got back... and one of these things she especially didn't want to face.   
  
Especially herself.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Judy Morbucks paced back and forth in her room. After Blossom had come, she and Bubbles had left for their own room. They'd made an initial comprimise before they'd left, which made Judy happy. However...  
  
However, she still had to deal with the one Powerpuff that hadn't returned yet.  
  
Buttercup... or, as she was called now, Jade Raven, hadn't returned at all last night. It made her wonder what she'd been doing all night that it required her to be away from the school grounds. Judy bit a nail in nervousness.   
  
She had seen the stuffed alligator on Jade's-Buttercup's bed earlier, and hid it from the two former sisters. If they'd seen it... they most likely would have put two and two together.   
  
The girl named Jade Raven had all but understood Judy's predicament- a little too easily, it seemed, about putting her past behind her. And if that was what Buttercup was trying to do, then she of all people had no right to try and show her sisters who Jade really was. In point of fact, she had the right... the duty, perhaps, to help her hide it from them.  
  
But she had to confront Jade on this. But for now...  
  
It was time for young women to just relax and watch the news while waiting for a certain missing roomate to return.   
  
The redhead picked up a nearby remote and pressed a few buttons, stretching to reach a nearby mug of coffee while she waited the milliseconds it took for the screen to awaken. Sipping it quietly, she flipped through the channels, finally settling on the local Townsville 09 channel. The news hadn't started yet, but it was soon in coming, and so, the teenager sipped her joe carefully.   
  
She wondered what would happen today.   
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Bubbles Utonium yawned. It had been a late, late, LATE night. She doubted that she'd gotten more than an hour's worth of sleep. The bedraggled blonde stretched and looked at the clock. Six in the morning.   
  
"Ughhh..."  
  
Last night, after she'd cried herself to sleep in Jade and Judy's comforting arms, she'd awoken to see Blossom kneeling beside a bed she'd been laid into- Jade's, she thought. Her sister- had been almost a different person completely last night. Apparently everything that Bubbles had said had finally gotten through to the redhead.   
  
They'd left Judy, who now that Bubbles thought of it, had been alone- no Jade in sight, and went back to their room. And had a serious heart-to-heart.   
  
It had turned out that a lot of the things that Blossom had done, a lot of the things that she had acted out were defense mechanisms... Bubbles hadn't realized how deeply hurting her own sister had been. She had thought she was the only one hurting deeply from that ancient wound... she'd apparently been wrong.  
  
Even though Blossom had been only five years old at the time, she still considered herself mature enough at that age to have known what she was doing- and she still blamed herself for Buttercup's disappearance. And so, she had unconciously pushed Bubbles away, not wanting to hurt her in the same way that she'd caused Buttercup to feel.  
  
The blonde looked over to her sister's bed. The redhead was sleeping peacefully, probably the first time she'd seen her so much at peace in ages.   
  
And in an ironic twist of fate, Bubbles didn't have herself to really thank for all of it. No, it hadn't been her at all. It had been Jade.  
  
The girl had bumped into her and come into Bubbles' heart almost by accident. So kind, and yet so guarded- it made Bubbles wonder what kind of life she'd led at the monestary. She'd become such good friends with her, that Blossom had become jealous, and finally had it out with her sister.   
  
It was funny- Blossom had said that Jade reminded her of Buttercup. It almost made Bubbles laugh, that thought. Jade was so remotely different from the five year old she'd once knew that it was impossible to put them together. However...  
  
However, Jade did remind her of someone, at least in the looks department.   
  
Saint Raven. There was no mistaking that long, black braid and those deep green eyes. It might be a bit of a stretch, personality wise, but then again, Bubbles was never really her 'bubbly', happy self whenever she was 'on the job'. In fact, just imagining Jade in those clothes that Saint Raven wore more than convinced her.   
  
Jade Raven. Saint Raven. Even her name was the same- and it would explain a lot- including why no one had heard of her before she'd moved to Townsville. She probably had been training while she'd been at the monestary- although Bubbles had to wonder about one thing.  
  
Flying. Where- How, for that matter, had she learned how to fly? Was there some sort of martial arts technique that taught one how to do that? Jade had mentioned a few times that she'd trained in the arts, and from what she'd seen of the 'Saint Raven', it was clearly displayed. Jade, however, had been clever about it- she'd appeared to be a slightly clumsy girl while in school- displayed, of course, by bumping into Bubbles, herself.  
  
Besides the flying, all the signs added up. Buttercup she wasn't, but Jade Raven was definately the superhero type- Saint Raven, to be precise.   
  
The blonde giggled. Now she had something she could share with Jade- although she'd have to be careful about how she told her. Some superheroes, from what she'd seen, were very touchy about their secret identity. However, Jade might be different about it- after all, she and Bubbles were friends, as far as she could tell.   
  
She smiled, and looked at the clock. 6:05. Ah, well. She might as well catch up on what was happening in Townsville before she got ready for school today. The blonde stood up, stretched, and walked over to the television, turning it on, then adjusting it to where it was channel 09. Yawning, she jumped back into her bed, cuddling in the blankets.   
  
She may have had to be awake, but that didn't mean that she couldn't laze about for a few hours, she thought and smiled.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
A black-haired hand picked up the telephone next to it, and spoke.  
  
"Yes. Our agreement, our contract, the paper that we had signed together, must be fulfilled. I need you to do what we spoke about earlier."  
  
A pregnant pause hung in the air, and the primate next to the phone smiled against his reciever. "Today, this very morning, upon the television program known as the news. Get your men ready, waiting, able. Today is the day that you pay me back your part of the contract."   
  
With that, Mojo Jojo hung up the phone, and curved his devilish-like teeth into a smile. Rising, he made his way over to a window, where some of his henchmen were currently bringing the delivery he'd wanted. He pointed towards one of his holding cages, and the henchmen nodded, carefully carrying the wanted item to one of the highly guarded cages. One of them waved at the primate before leaving, and Mojo grinned.  
  
Today, he would finally reveal his hand to the Powerpuff girls, as well as the one who had managed to escape his wrath for more than ten years now. Mojo walked over to one of his control panels, and pressed a button, the floor underneath him giving way to a tunnel that delivered him to the prisoner cages.   
  
Many, many people had been held in these, and been released thanks to those meddling twins. No longer. This newest cage that he had created would be all but impossible for them to open- making it the perfect trap to capture them in.   
  
After a quick clothing change, the primate known as Mojo Jojo clicked a button on his sleeve, revealing a large screen that was showing the 6:00 morning news. He smiled and glanced back to the prisoner in the cage.  
  
Good. They'd managed to make him look tortured enough without doing any actual damage. Perfect.   
  
The primate sat back in a nearby chair, and got ready, his reign of terror about to begin.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Are you sure about this, boss?" A short man wearing a black cap asked Ace Green as he readied himself for the camera. "I mean, what it could do to our company, you know..."  
  
The taller man snapped at him. "I know! I just-" Ace closed his eyes in frustration, and bit his lip. "Sorry, Arturo. I just... I don't want to do this, but what choice do I have? If I don't do this, he'll expose us as being affiliated to him! We've come too far- way too far to let our public image fall because of a stupid monkey."  
  
"But he's not stupid," Snake interjected. "That's the problem."  
  
"I know, I know!" Ace said, silently cursing himself for ever having made an alliance with the stupid primate. "But what choice do I have?"  
  
"We could... go public with everything. Be honest," Arturo stated, thinking. "The public might be forgiving of us if we were completely honest with them."  
  
"Except that'd ruin our rep, 'Lil man," Ace sighed. "And even though that's a good idea, if we did that, we'd be worth nothing. By doing this, no one will know, and afterwards, we can become scot free of that little pain Mojo."  
  
Grubber Green nodded in agreement.   
  
"Awww... let's just get this done with," Billy said. Ace nodded, and slicked back his jet-black hair with a comb. He nodded to his business partners, then walked over to the desk in front of the camera.   
  
"You ready, Mr. Green?" the cameraman asked behind the piece of recording machinery, a woman standing beside him, cue cards in hand.   
  
"As I will ever be. Considering this 'breaking announcement' will be costing me a million in revenue."  
  
"Right," the man stated, looking at another piece of his machine. He held up his hand to the company man. "You're on in five, four, three, two-" he pointed at Ace.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Judy yawned, then looked at the clock. 6:10. Where the hell was that Jade at, anyways? She turned up the volume on the news, the latest set of commercials now over.  
  
The news anchor cleared her throat, and smiled happily, reading the newest set of words upon her teleprompter.  
  
"And today, with us, we have the highly respected buisiness firm owner and director, Ace Green of Green and Company. Supposedly, he has a very important announcement for shareholders and people alike. The field's all yours, Ace!"  
  
"Great..." Judy rolled her eyes. She wondered what all this could be about. Notwithstanding her overall distrust of them already, she sighed. She might as well listen to what was up. It might affect her Father, if it had to do with the stupid stockmarket.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Hello," the CEO stated, his slicked hair slightly gleaming under the camera light. "My name is Ace Green, president and founder of Green and Company. As some of you might have heard, there is a new superhero in town- a villigante, you might say. She goes by the name Saint Raven, and is a..." Ace paused, looking at the cue cards and nearly choking on the irony of his situation, "noble young woman, whose real face and name are unknown. She, however, has already been busy in the streets of our fine Townsville, bettering our community."  
  
A picture used before by the news channel flashed on the screen, this time of a girl in a green getup and a long black braid.  
  
Ace held up his hand towards the camera. "I, personally, on behalf of Green and Company, would like to extend an invitation to this 'Saint Raven' to an honorary banquet in her honor, to thank her for her exemplary efforts on behalf of the community. I-"   
  
Suddenly the camera light, as well as the house lights, flickered off, and Ace blinked. "Wha-" He looked over towards the cameraman, holding his hands up in question. The man threw up his hands, unsure. Suddenly a yell came from back in the studio, and Ace stood up from his seat, worried.  
  
"Ace!"  
  
His name was all the reason the man needed to run from his chair towards the place where the yell had come from. When he ran there, he discovered Arturo, Snake, Billy, and Grubber standing around a battery-operated television. Arturo's eyes were wide as he looked back at Ace.  
  
"He... he backstabbed us."  
  
"What?" Ace's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he started to watch the television, Mojo Jojo grinning wisely back at him on the screen.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Bubbles' eyebrows became furrowed when the television screen went dark for a second, then became angered and pointed whenever a familiar dark entity known as Mojo came onto the screen.   
  
The blonde zipped over to where her sister lay, and shook her awake, pointing at the screen.  
  
"Welcome, humble citizens of Townsville. This is your friendly friend, Mojo Jojo, and I also have an annoucement to make."  
  
Blossom rubbed her eyes, then became just as serious as her sister, watching the television screen.   
  
"First of all, I'd like to thank my friend Ace Green and his firm of Green and Company for their support of me through all these years, this decade. That is why I have chosen to back up their little invitation with my own, shall we say, offer to this 'Saint Raven' character."  
  
Blossom's jaw dropped. "That- that Saint Raven was right- Green and Company really are crooked!"  
  
Bubbles put a finger to her lips. "Shh!"  
  
The primate grinned on the screen, his white-and-purple dome gleaming while he spoke. "Let us just say that there is someone very precious, very important to yourself here who would be most... disappointed, unhappy, saddened- if you didn't show up." The camera's picture faded out, showing an image of the Professor tied up and gagged behind the bars of a cage. The focus shifted back to a smiling monkey.  
  
Blossom and Bubbles were standing up by this point, both their hands balled into fists.  
  
"You have one hour to answer to Green's invitation. I hope you'll enjoy the party!" Mojo grinned widely, showing off his carnivorous fangs. Laughing, the screen then faded out, leaving behind a screen that had a timer on it.   
  
"What the- What the hell was that?" Blossom asked her sister. The blonde shook her head, still in shock. Suddenly, their dorm room phone rang, and Bubbles rushed over, nearly ripping the reciever off the phone in the process.  
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Who is it?" Blossom hissed at her sister, the blonde holding up an index finger in answer.   
  
"You saw it too? Yeah, we were just going to-" Suddenly, Bubbles bit a knuckle, thinking. "Has Jade come back yet?"  
  
Another pause was the response to this, and Blossom was extremely temped by this point to rip the phone out of her sister's hands and yell at whomever was on the phone for bothering them at this time.  
  
"We'll see you in a bit, maybe." Another pause. "Thanks. Bye."  
  
Bubbles put the phone back onto the hook, and turned to face a red-haired sister of hers that was on the end of her rope. "Calm down, Blossom- look, it wasn't Mojo or anyone directly involved. It was Judy. She just saw the whole thing on the television and asked if we were okay."  
  
"It's an obvious answer," the redhead quipped.  
  
"Be quiet for a second, here, Blossom. The thing is- Jade hasn't come back."  
  
"And that has what to do with all of this?"  
  
"Blossom, I think your theory might have been half-right. I don't think that Jade is Buttercup, but I definately believe that she, at least, is Saint Raven."  
  
"Wha- you believe me on that? But-"  
  
"Just listen, Blossom. Haven't you noticed how Saint Raven only seems to come out at night? And another thing- Jade's never home at night, or so Judy tells me. Just imagine her in that getup that Saint Raven's always wearing, and tell me it's not a perfect match."  
  
"You know... you're right. But you have to at least give me the credit for thinking she might have been Buttercup- they do have similar features, after all."  
  
"Yeah, but she's not," Bubbles said, smiling. "However, she is Saint Raven, and from what I understand about what Mojo said, she's the one he's looking for. With her help, we might just be able to save Dad."  
  
"There's still one thing I don't get, though," Blossom said, thinking. "Why did Mojo say that the Professor would be precious to Jade? She doesn't even know him."  
  
"I don't know... maybe," Bubbles put her index finger to her mouth and thought. "Maybe she's the sister we didn't have- you know, like an experiment that Dad didn't want us to know about? She can fly, after all- even though it doesn't seem like she can do much of anything else like we can... or maybe she was a survivor from one of the cloning experiments?"  
  
"Who knows? In any case, what should we do now? Besides go and thrash the stuffing out of Mojo?"  
  
"...I think we should wait for the Raven to return. Then, we can definately make some plans."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Buttercup blinked and yawned. She'd been sorting out her feelings for the past few hours, and hadn't realized just how late it had become- it was nearly dawn, she supposed.   
  
"Oh shit..." she said aloud, realizing that if she didn't return soon, then Judy would certainly know that something was up- she wasn't an early riser to begin with, and if Judy saw an empty bed...  
  
Speaking of beds, Buttercup suddenly realized she'd left something very important lying out on her bed when the Powerpuffs had come last night. Something very fuzzy, green, and easily recognizable.   
  
Her stuffed alligator.   
  
"SHIT!" she yelled, and flew off into the sky towards Morgan's. She prayed while flying that God had somehow intervened and that neither Blossom nor Bubbles had seen it. "Shit shit shit shit..."  
  
After about five minutes' worth of flying, she finally came to the clock tower of the Institute, whose time read 6:15 at the moment. Gritting her teeth, Buttercup flew quickly towards her dorm wing, pushing herself to fly faster, not noticing the slight dark green trail that was forming behind her.   
  
Finally, she came upon her wing, and without a second thought, zipped into the women's lavatory on her floor. Quickly she changed back into her clothes from last night, and then hurried to place the clothes she'd been wearing back into her hiding spot. Seconds later, she strolled down the hallway, rather drowsy. Coming upon her room door, she yawned and pulled it open.  
  
To reveal a rather ticked-off Judy Morbucks waiting inside.   
  
The redhead looked left, right, then dragged the raven-haired girl inside by the front of her plain brown shirt, not listening to the cry of surprise vocalized by Buttercup. She 'threw' the girl from her hand to Buttercup's own bed, and then stood on her haunches, knuckle to her mouth, pondering.  
  
"Wha-?" Buttercup blinked.  
  
"Quiet. I'm trying to think about something. Like... where were you last night?"  
  
"Um... well, after I went down to talk to Blossom, I-" Buttercup's lack of sleep did not allow her normally-agile mind to come up with an excuse quick enough, and it left the teen sitting with her jaw slightly open.  
  
"I thought so. You were out last night."  
  
"I-"  
  
"Don't start. I have a lot to say. Including... why the hell did you come back, Buttercup Utonium?"  
  
Buttercup's jaw dropped, and she stood up onto her feet, her eyes searching. "But- I- I'm not HER!" She exclaimed, regaining her capacity for a conversation.  
  
"Too late. I would have believed it a few days ago, but I've been noticing some things. Like how you seemed to perfectly understand everything I was going through- and how you seemed to know what Buttercup Utonium looked like, even though you weren't a native to Townsville."  
  
"I-"  
  
"How easily Bubbles took to you- how much Blossom seemed to resent you- unconciously, they knew. And it's still unconcious with them."  
  
"You mean- you didn't-" Buttercup's eyes grew wide.  
  
Judy crossed her arms, then turned around to collect something from her bed. She turned back, and held out a familiar stuffed alligator. "I believe this is yours."  
  
"But- why didn't you tell them?" Buttercup asked, incredulously taking the stuffed animal from Judy's hands. She hugged it in nervous habit. "Anyone else-"  
  
"Anyone else." Judy said, holding up a finger, "That's the key phrase there. Lucky for me, I know you well enough to know a few things- like you don't believe that what a person has done has to do with who they are today. And that you would never, ever, hurt either of your sisters even though you came back. You're just like me," Judy said, faltering and sitting down on her bed, with her head in her hands. "You're... you're trying to start anew. What right do I have to deny you that?"  
  
"Judy-" Buttercup said as she walked over to the girl's bed and hugged her. "Judy- thank you... so much..."  
  
"Why did you run away, Buttercup? No one really understood why... everyone had heard the rumors, but..."  
  
"My family and I..." Buttercup started, then stopped embracing her friend. "...we had some differences of opinion. To my family, I was nothing but a fighter- not as smart as Blossom, nor as cute as Bubbles. It came to a head one day when Blossom lied about something I did, and I- I just couldn't take it anymore. So I ran away."  
  
"And joined a monestary?"  
  
The raven-haired girl laughed. "That much is true. I was raised by a group of monks for the past ten years of my life, until I was old enough to make to on my own. Then, when I got the scholarship to come here... well, that pretty much decided it."  
  
She looked at Judy. "I-I'm sorry about hiding this, and I'm sorry that I'm going to ask you to keep it from my sisters, but... you're the only one, I think, that can understand where I'm coming from. I'm trying to be me- to be Jade Raven. Buttercup Utonium- the name doesn't matter. I'm trying to-"  
  
"-live your own life," Judy smiled, sniffling and wiping away a tear or two. "I do understand. And I'm sorry I was so rough with you when you came back- I just... I don't know."  
  
"You found out something about me that I should have trusted you with in the first place. But... that's past, now."  
  
"It definately is," Judy agreed. Suddenly, something occured to her, and she stood up and paced back and forth on the floor.   
  
"What's the matter?" Buttercup asked.   
  
"I just remembered- the newscast from a few minutes ago- Jade, I mean Butter," She swallowed, and began again. "A few minutes ago Green and Company came onto the air, offering something like an invitation to a Saint Raven-"  
  
"That's me too, if you must know..." Buttercup answered, looking to the side while answering.  
  
"Huh. Then that makes a greater deal of sense. Well, after they started talking, Mojo Jojo appeared on the screen, threatening to kill Professor Utonium if you didn't show."  
  
"What?" Buttercup stood up and intook a deep breath. "What was that, you say?"  
  
"Professor Utonium was kidnapped, and he will be killed if 'Saint Raven' doesn't appear. Or so the message went. Look-" she said, turning on the television screen on her side of the room, on which a counter appeared. "That is a counter, that's counting down to precisely one hour. At which, Utonium will be killed."  
  
Buttercup's eyes nearly popped from her head. "But- I-"  
  
Judy intook a deep breath. "I think that Blossom and Bubbles have put two and two together about your Saint Raven and Jade Raven personalities- they don't know you're Buttercup, however, so I'm pretty sure they don't know why Mojo would invite you, specifically."  
  
"But Mojo obviously does."  
  
"I'd take it that way, yes."  
  
"Shit." Buttercup exhaled deeply, her chest shaking as she did so. "so. Blossom and Bubbles know I'm Saint Raven, eh? Then I'm guessing they've been waiting for me to arrive. Do they know that you-"  
  
"I'm guessing not. Should I act surprised?"  
  
"Call them down. I'll go out and change while they're coming down, and come back. Act as best as you can."  
  
"Gotcha." Judy paused a moment before she went to pick up her dorm room phone. "Oh, and by the way- whenever they're not here, do you want me to call you Jade, or..."  
  
Buttercup paused at the doorway, and thought seriously for a minute. She smiled at Judy, after pondering.  
  
"Call me Jade... I don't feel worthy to hold the name of Utonium any more. If the word ever does get out to my sisters and father... I'll still stay with Jade. I'm my own person now, not a triplet clone of my sisters, and that's how I want to stay."  
  
"I understand," Judy said, then panicked slightly when she realized the phone was already calling the Powerpuffs without her permission. She waved Buttercup towards the hallway, and the raven-haired girl ran through the hallway towards the lavatories.  
  
The raven haired Jade gritted her teeth. This was going to be one hell of a game to have to play. And the stakes were high- her father's very life.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Diane Keane lay on the floor, in a complete bout of shock. Slight twitching of the ankles and feet were the only tell-tale signs that she still lived.  
  
She'd walked into the bedroom to greet her future husband with a kiss whenever she'd heard noise in his room, only to see a trashed room with blood stains adorning the walls.   
  
Now she just laid there, lost in shock at what had happened. No thoughts of what could happen to her crossed her mind- only what would happen if she lost the man she'd just found.  
  
And what would happen then.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Well? Oohhh... Looks like the final showdown may be on its way? Maybe? We'll have to see! Chapter 12 is already in the works, so expect it soon- I hope to have this finished before summer! ^_~ 


	12. Found Masquerade

A/N: bows before readers and their patience I do humbly apologize for the delay- at the end of this chapter there's an explanation for the non-coming out of this fic, but I'll cut to the chase and the story- ENJOY!  
  
And as always, I don't own the PPG.  
  
"What could Judy want that she would call us during such an important time?!?" Blossom asked Bubbles. The two Powerpuffs were flying rather than walking to the girl's dorm room to save time. The redhead gritted her teeth. "It'd better be good. The Professor's in trouble and-"  
  
The redhead stopped mid-air as she saw Judy's dorm room wide open, a very familiar figure standing in the doorway. Her pink eyes grew wide.  
  
"Y-YOU!" She yelled, pointing at the green-clad young superheroine known as Saint Raven. The raven haired girl smirked in response to Blossom's obvious surprised expression, then flat out laughed. Bubbles blinked, her own expression rather distrusting.  
  
"Saint Raven?" She asked, looking into those piercing green eyes with her own subtle blue. Her connection from earlier about Jade Raven being the actual girl behind the costume brought forth a superceeding image onto her. A long black braid, those green eyes. Bubbles' eyes turned to slits. There was no doubt.  
  
"Or rather, Jade Raven?" She asked, hoping to cause her friend a little bit of fright at her cover being blown. Jade, however, merely grinned. Bubbles blinked in surprise, until Judy appeared behind Jade.  
  
"What's going on here?" Blossom demanded, stomping her foot down on the carpet outside Jade and Judy's dorm room. "Are you Jade Raven or aren't you?"  
  
The nearby dorm rooms, so close to Jade and Judy's own space, started to clamor with objections to this loud noise early in the morning, and the black-haired teen merely raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why don't we come inside and I'll explain," Jade told Bubbles and Blossom, only to have her hand held back by Bubbles.  
  
"We need you to come with us now! Our dad's in trouble, he's-"  
  
"He's been kidnapped. I know," Jade stated quietly, twisting her wrist so that she was out of the blonde girl's grip. "Trust me, I'm not taking it lightly. However, if we are to make any sort of plan-"  
  
"I'M the one who makes the plans around here," Blossom said, her own eyes becoming squinted. "Now you just-"  
  
"Can you guys keep it down?" A girl across the hallway asked, groggy. Her hand was on her forehead, holding her hair back. "Some of us like to sleep in the morning..." She blinked, noticed it was the Powerpuff girls, then yawned. "Just go and save them already, okay...?" The random Institute student went back into her room, leaving all the girls standing by Jade and Judy's room blinking from the randomness of the intrusion.  
  
"Let's get inside," Judy stated, and Blossom and Bubbles nodded. The pink-eyed Blossom gave Jade a hardened look as she walked by her before entering, Buttercup entered last, letting her sisters turn around and face her before she shut the door behind her. She didn't allow Blossom to start on her upcoming rant, going straight into her own.  
  
"Look. I know that Professor Utonium, your father, has been kidnapped. I know the perpatrator is one psychotic monkey named Mojo Jojo. I'm more than willing to help you out, and I-"  
  
"Stop," Blossom ordered, holding out her hand. "First things first. You are Jade Raven, correct?"  
  
"Wha-" Judy blinked, as if the idea had never occured to her that her roommate and Saint Raven were the same person. Buttercup fought hard to keep herself from laughing at the redhead's acting, but became serious after a second. Looking both the Powerpuffs straight in the eyes, she stepped forward towards Bubbles and pulled the girl's hand forward towards her, palm up.  
  
"What are you-" the blue-eyed teen started, only to find Saint Raven's headband in her palm, and Jade's face and eyes peering back at her.  
  
"Yes," Buttercup informed the girls present, "I'm Saint Raven, but you all also know me as Jade Raven. You've already met me once," she smiled at Bubbles, who blinked for a moment, then handed back Jade's headband.  
  
"It's okay, you know," Bubbles said. "It's just... well, to be honest, at first I didn't put two and two together because you act so different between your regular self and when you're Saint Raven."  
  
Buttercup tied the familiar emerald headband back onto her head, then glanced at Judy. "I'm... sorry for keeping this from you," she apologized for the second time that day to her roommate. Good... it seemed that Bubbles and Blossom were lapping up Judy's feigned innocence. "It's just that I didn't want to put you in any danger- and as to your statement, Bubbles," she turned back to the blonde, "I put my duty aside whenever I'm at school... it makes me seem like a different person."  
  
"So which one of you is real, Saint or Jade Raven?" Blossom asked. She then pointed at Buttercup. "And why does Mojo Jojo want you so badly that he'd kidnap our father?"  
  
A long sigh escaped Buttercup, and the raven-haired girl strided over to her bed, sitting down and facing the three girls. Judy seemed to be acting naive to the entire situation perfectly, biting her knuckle with what seemed worry, which could very much have been real.  
  
"I don't know," she falsely admitted to the Powerpuffs and Judy. "For all I know, he may just want me for experimental research. You two are the experts here- why do you think he'd want me?"  
  
"I doubt it's for experimental research," Bubbles snorted. "Not unless you've got... say-" she paued, something occuring to her- "have you ever heard of something called Chemical X?"  
  
Blossom's interest at that point piqued, and she turned her head to see Jade's expression.  
  
'I've got to make sure they don't see the slightest bit of recognition on my face...' the former Powerpuff thought to herself for a split second. It was then that she put the best dumbfounded expression on, shaking her head.  
  
"No... what is it?"  
  
Blossom and Bubbles exchanged glances, then Blossom spoke.  
  
"It's a chemical that's responsible for our very existance," she slowly stated. "Most Townsville residents know the story... the Professor's not our 'natural' father, but our creator. He made us from sugar, spice, everything nice... and then added Chemical X to the mix, that gives us our powers. We thought- since you were able to fly and everything- that maybe-"  
  
"Oh that?" Buttercup smiled. "That I can explain," she said, floating up off the ground, her green gi fluttering underneath her. "It's a technique that I learned from my master. It revolves around the fact that within each of us lies an enormous amount of spiritual power- some people call this power 'ki'. When we focus it, we can do things like this," she said, smiling and lowering herself back to the bed.  
  
"Wow..." Judy stated, staring slightly. Bubbles blinked at this display.  
  
"So... you've never shown any other abilities? Super vision or hearing? Laser eyes?"  
  
Buttercup shook her head, "Nothing that I know about." Judy's eyes were understanding for what Buttercup lied about, but she didn't look the emerald-eyed girl in her eyes during her answer.  
  
"Wow..." Bubbles said, her breath nearly taken away by this revelation of a 'normal' child having super-powers. Blossom held her fingers to the side of her head, slightly embarrassed about her sister's reaction to Jade. However, she seemed to be very impressed as well with Jade, although her ability to mask her reaction was much better than Bubbles'.  
  
"Maybe Mojo wants to capture you to learn about your 'ki' skills?" Blossom mused aloud. She shook her head. "None of this makes sense... I see no reason why he would want to get you so badly that he'd kidnap the Professor..."  
  
"That could be it," Judy added, nodding. Blossom turned.  
  
"You mean about-"  
  
"The 'ki' skills? Yes," Judy lied. Buttercup was thanking God right now that the girl was a better actor than she'd previously thought. "I can't think of what else it could possibly be right now," she mused.  
  
Bubbles giggled. "Maybe Mojo thinks Jade is Buttercup," she laughed.  
  
That comment resulted in three sets of eyes staring at the blonde. After a moment of silence, Blossom sighed and threw her hands into the air. Sometimes her sister was odd in the morning.  
  
She didn't notice the panicked strains that ran through Judy and Buttercup's face.  
  
"Well, in any case, YOU'VE got to come with us," Blossom said, pointing at the panicked Jade Raven. "Mojo stated that he wanted YOU if the Professor was to be released. I don't know what he wants with you, but we need to have you with us in order to find out."  
  
"Wait-" Judy said, blinking. She held her hand out to the other red-head. "Let me get this straight. Are you... are you using Jade as BAIT?"  
  
The raven haired girl's expression was rather serious at her roommate's suggestion. It would make sense, yes, but she had to wonder when Blossom had become... well, THIS ruthless. The redhead appeared to be torn as well, and it occurred to Buttercup that maybe she'd been wrong about the degree of her former sister's supposed madness.  
  
"I don't like it," Blossom started, her right knuckle making a soft popping sound as she cracked it in agitation, "but I don't see another way to get around this without at least having her with us. Mojo, for all his tics, is not an idiot. He won't buy it if one of us tries to imitate her- and I doubt that we actually could," she stated.  
  
"First off," she started, then shook her head. "Well, I think it's obvious. We don't have time."  
  
Buttercup stood back and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and intaking a deep breath. What would Brother Peter tell her was best in this situation? Brother Mark? Isaac? Her raven hair hit the wall as she tilted her forehead towards the doorway. She had succeeded so far from being recognized as Buttercup Utonium thanks to luck and a change in looks. Buttercup got the feeling that Mojo...  
  
No, it was impossible, wasn't it? There was no way he could know that she...  
  
No. It WAS impossible. She'd covered her tracks pretty well. The only reason that he could be interested in her was probably because of a possible alliance he might have in mind. The usual turn-the-superhero-to-evil idea. Although... as much as it hurt, Buttercup had to admit she wasn't really a superhero anymore.  
  
She was more of a viligante now.  
  
"But-" Bubbles started to protest, but it was then that Buttercup held up a hand.  
  
"I'll go," she whispered, and headed towards the window of their dorm room. With a quick jerk, she lifted up the windowpane, a gasp escaping from Judy as she did so. Blossom turned and looked at the back of the black-haired young woman.  
  
"A-are you sure?" Bubbles asked, her blue eyes iced with worry.  
  
"Let's go," Buttercup repeated, not looking back. She couldn't- not at those precious blue eyes of the sister she'd hurt what seemed a lifetime ago. Not now. She pushed herself off the dorm room floor and out of the window. Floating by the window, she finally turned back and stared with those piercing green eyes towards those inside. Judy intook a deep breath. Buttercup's lip seemed to bear angrily whenever she stared at Blossom and Bubbles.  
  
"Well, are you coming?"  
  
The two Powerpuffs leapt out the window and followed the girl, floating beside her. Judy felt a lump in her throat as she watched them stand on the air outside. In a different world... she could have seen all three of them, together, still sisters, fighting. Now...  
  
Now she saw a pair of twins and a stranger.  
  
Buttercup stared back at her roommate as she floated by the window. "If I don't come back-" she started, then slitted her eyes to show the strength of her words, "you KNOW what to do," she finished.  
  
With that, she turned and flew in the sky, the endings of her black and green robes fluttering behind her as she soared into the air. After a strange glance towards Judy, Blossom and Bubbles followed Saint Raven, their clothing leaving pink and blue trails behind them.  
  
"Godspeed," Judy said with a last glance at their retreating. She turned and looked at the television screen, her eyes full of worry as the timer counted down.  
  
"Professor Utonium?" A voice asked at the door of Townsville's greatest scientist. Another knock accompanied the question, and the voice grew louder. "Utonium? Are you in there?"  
  
Finally after a moment, the voice seemed to sigh with resignation, and a small grunt accompanied it. "Well, if that's the way it's got to be," they said, and the sound of metal clashing against a wooden door suddenly broke into the air. After a few splinters cracking and glass clinking against the floor, the door opened to reveal a tall, red-haired woman standing in the doorway.  
  
"Utonium? Professor Utonium?"  
  
Miss Bellum, assistant to the Mayor of Townsville, walked over the broken glass in her stiletto heels, the glass cracking underneath the pressure.  
  
"Utonium?"  
  
A groan coming from a nearby room caught her attention, and the tall woman ran over to the bedroom to find Miss Keane, Kindergarten teacher, on the floor in a daze. Acting quickly, Bellum hopped over the woman and ripped a blanket off the bed. It didn't take much to notice the blood splattered on the nearby pillow. Gently picking up the woman, Miss Bellum wrapped the blanket around her shivering form.  
  
"Shit. She's going into shock," the red-haired woman stated as she watched Miss Keane struggle and shiver. Thinking quickly, she pulled out a cell phone from her left pocket and started dialing, the entire time watching Keane's shallow breathing.  
  
The dial tone took a few seconds' pause before springing to life. Miss Bellum bit her lip as she looked at her shock-driven 'patient'. Finally a voice rose on the other end.  
  
"Nine One One. What's the Emergency?"  
  
"I need an ambulance over to the Utonium's house-"  
  
"M'am, please calm down. Where are you located?"  
  
"Um, the address is-"  
  
Miss Bellum quickly gave the operator the information, her eyes never leaving Miss Keane's delicately rising and falling chest. After what seemed like eternity, the woman turned off her cell phone and placed her full attention towards the kindergarten teacher, picking her up and resting her head on her lap as she waited for the ambulence to arrive.  
  
"Hold on, Miss Keane. Hold on..."  
  
"Utonium." A cold voice reached into the darkness,  
  
The famous scientist blinked his eyes open, rubbing at them with his bruised right hand. They felt as though they'd been caked with cement to keep them shut. Groggily, he faced the direction the voice that had called him came from.  
  
"Wh-who are you?"  
  
"Do you not recognize your former servant?" the rough monotonic voice rumbled again. Professor Utonium winced at first, but his eyes became wide when he recognized his former assitant standing in back of a set of metal bars.  
  
"Mojo!"  
  
The small ape sneered at his former master. "Yes, it is I, Mojo Jojo, for that is the name of my calling." He pulled his cape forward around his small side, so that his eyes were the only thing the Professor could see.  
  
"What do you want? Chemical X? The girls? What is it this time, Mojo?" Utonium asked, tired and exasperated. "You've gone through something similar about a thousand times and every time you do, the girls beat you. What makes you think this time will be any different?"  
  
Mojo laughed, a hard chuckle that came from under his breath. The chuckle grew into open laughter, then finally a high-pitched cackle.  
  
"...well?" Professor Utonium asked, pushing himself up off the metal of his cage and facing the monkey.  
  
Mojo stopped his cackling and grinned widely, facing the man. "This time will be different because this time-" he paused to make himself more dramatic, "the girls will not be facing me directly."  
  
"Oh?" Professor Utonium asked. "And who, exactly, would they be fighting, then?"  
  
The ape grinned widely. "Why, their sister Buttercup of course."  
  
Professor Utonium blinked in confusion. "What- what the HELL are you talking about, Mojo? Buttercup's been dead for ten years now, and you bring up this shit- what do you have? Some sort of anamatronic dummy lying around that you fixed up to look like her? The girls will know the difference. I will know the difference."  
  
"Oh, really. Well, let me tell you something, PROFESSOR," Mojo sneered, his scowl turning into an evil grin. "If you'll be able to tell the difference, and I very much doubt that you'll be able to see a reason for her not to be Buttercup," he paused once again, to glare at the ashen-faced man, whose face had drained of all its blood, "then I shall be a MONKEY'S UNCLE!"  
  
With that, Mojo turned to leave the room. Before he did, though, he turned back one last time. "And you, PROFESSOR," he sneered, "had better hope that she shows up. Otherwise..." he gestured at a digital clock that seemed to be counting backwards from some time to zero, "the GIRLS, as you so affectionately call them, name them, and endear them as, will no longer have a father!"  
  
The ape's laughter seemed to reach the ceiling as he finally exited the room, leaving Utonium alone in his steel cage.  
  
"No... it can't be... Buttercup, you'd never agree to this!" The man of science slammed his fists against the metal floor of his containment, instantly regretting it. He picked up his hands and massaged the outer parts of them, as they were throbbing with pain.  
  
"...Girls... get here quick..." he whispered, the darkness never feeling so lonely. He longed for Diane Keane, his future wife, to be there with him. His eyes grew wide as he realized the one person that was missing- and that Mojo would have had no qualms about destroying.  
  
"DIANE!"  
  
"Blossom, what do you think Mojo is going to want with-" Bubbles asked in mid-flight, nodding her head towards Jade, who was flying towards Mojo's headquarters alongside the twin girls. Blossom shook her head negatively towards Bubbles.  
  
"Not here-" she hissed back to the blonde, noticing that Jade's ears had picked up on the trail end of their conversation.  
  
"Hmm?" the raven-haired girl queried the two. "What was that?"  
  
"Nothing important. Bubbles is just-" Bubbles glanced at the redhead, making sure that the girl didn't say anything stupid, "-worried about our father, Professor Utonium. And I have to admit.." she half-heartedly smiled, "I'm worried, too."  
  
Jade seemed to stare right through the red headed girl as she said this, and it weirded Blossom out to see the emptiness, and if she was right, longing, in her emerald eyes. The gi-clad girl then stared ahead as they flew on, silent for a moment, then opening her mouth to speak.  
  
"Your father. He is a kind man? Forgiving?"  
  
Bubbles was caught off-guard for a moment by this question, but then she smiled and nodded. "Yes. Very. He raised me, Blossom, and Butter-" Bubbles stopped short on her old sister's name, and instead supplied, "myself and Blossom since we were born."  
  
"Butter-?" the raven-haired girl queried.  
  
Bubbles' face turned ashen for a moment, as though she had encountered a funeral in her wake. Blossom took over for her sister.  
  
"Her name... was Buttercup. She was another sister of ours. Since you're not originally from around here... you wouldn't know."  
  
"Was she a Powerpuff?" Jade's questions seemed piercing.  
  
"Yes," Blossom admitted. "And the toughest of the three of us... well, at the time. But, something terrible happened." The redhead paused a moment as they flew on, as though her life depended on the eloquence on her next statement. "She- Buttercup- she ran away."  
  
"Ran away..."  
  
Blossom heard the statement in Jade's voice. "Yes, ran away. We- well, there was an argument before she left, and she... well, she felt as though she wasn't- needed, or wanted, anymore. So, she left." She closed her eyes, about to explain more, when Bubbles suddenly pointed ahead of them towards a tall observatory tower that held a telescope on the top.  
  
"We're here." The blonde girl pointed out towards the former volcano that now seemed to be their destination. Jade nodded with the acceptance of the fact, and Blossom gave a quick nod as to show a quick acknowledgement. All three stopped mid-air, and the red-haired Powerpuff faced their new compatriot.  
  
"Good. Jade-" she told the black-haired girl, who turned at the sound of her voice. "You should go in first and find out what Mojo wants with you. If you're not out with the Professor within five minutes, we'll-"  
  
"No," Bubbles interrupted. "That's not fair to Jade, Blossom."  
  
Buttercup blinked at Bubbles' actions. She'd just done the unthinkable- stopped her sister mid-plan. She turned her eyes to slits and watched Blossom's reaction; unsure if the change the pink Powerpuff had stated she'd gone through was actually truthful.  
  
However, what happened surprised her.  
  
"You're right, Bubbles."  
  
Buttercup blinked despite herself.  
  
"You're right," Blossom admitted. "It IS unfair to ask Jade to go by herself in this- especially when the person she's been sent to save isn't as important to her as... well, he is to us." Blossom turned her coral pink eyes towards Jade.  
  
"We'll go in with you. Mojo can't possibly think that we'd come with you; he'd probably assume we'd try a backward entry whenever you enter. In that, we'll have the advantage if we accompany you."  
  
Buttercup merely nodded, her lips drawn.  
  
"Let's do it," Bubbles agreed verbally, giving a nod to Blossom. She looked up at the Townsville Tower and bit her lip. "There's only five minutes left. We'd better start now."  
  
Instead of answering verbally, both Blossom and Saint Raven flew at the same time towards the observatory, their paths crossing behind them. Bubbles smiled for a minute, watching as a pink trail left by Blossom's clothing intertwined with a faint emerald hue left by Jade's garments in her speed-driven flight. It was then that the blonde threw herself after them, her hair streaming behind her as a blue trail followed her.  
  
Three sets of feet planted themselves on the floor as glass shards circled about their newly-landed frames. Once the Powerpuffs and "Jade" had landed on the ground, their eyes scanned the surrounding area to see what surprises Mojo had left.  
  
It was quite a good idea, as it seemed as though the primate was not lacking in his ability to leave behind death traps for his constant foes. As soon as their eyes had scanned their room once, a trap door activated, making theloor fall beneath the three young women. Buttercup rose into the air not a moment too soon.  
  
"Spikes at six o'clock," Blossom cried out to Bubbles, who barely missed the spikes that rose from the activated trap door at the bottom. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed, but with a bit of concentration, she narrowly avoided the death pit awaiting her and joined her red-haired sister above the metal spikes.  
  
Once the initial booby trap had been taken care of, the three young women hovered above the metal tubes until a nod from Jade reminded them that they should probably move from their location. Once removed from the situation, the black-haired young woman settled back down onto the floor, letting her weight fall to her feet with some hesitation this time. After a moment, Blossom and Bubbles followed her lead.  
  
"That was pretty lame for one of Mojo's traps," Bubbles sniffed, then glanced at Jade, who seemed to appear surprised by this turn of events. The blonde appeared embarrassed for a moment, then explained.  
  
"Mojo Jojo is a villian who's been trying to take out my sister and I since we were little," she started, then laughed to herself. "At first he was more playful than he is now... guess a decade of getting your ass handed to you by two little girls must have done a dent to his ego. Well, anyways, as the years went on, he stopped being playful and got a bit more... dangerous. That trap is one of his less violent ways of trying to kill us."  
  
Buttercup blinked. Had she heard right, or was it just her ears? "...trying to KILL you?"  
  
"Yeah," Blossom nodded, with what seemed like a sigh. "It's sad, really. He had such a brilliant mind, and he wasted it all on trying to destroy us..."  
  
"Wait," Buttercup repeated. "He set these traps to try and destroy you... then he lured ME here. What's to make you guys think that I won't turn into a weapon of his, too? One that'll try and kill you both?"  
  
Bubbles giggled. "We're not that stupid, Jade- I mean, Saint Raven." She smiled. "You're our friend and ally. I doubt that there'd be any reason that we'd have to fight."  
  
Buttercup stayed silent, only to have her thoughts interrupted by Blossom's voice.  
  
"You guys!" the redhead exclaimed, and two heads turned to face her. The young woman was pointing towards the floor of one of the walls. "There's dust here that's newly settled- this isn't a real wall, it's a fake! I bet the Professor's behind it."  
  
"Then let's knock and say hello," Bubbles grinned, then leapt into the air and flew straight against the metallic "wall", creating a large dent with her first punch. She shook her head after impact. "He's made these things tougher, finally."  
  
It took approximately five punches for the girl to give up. Blossom also gave it a go, but to no avail.  
  
"DAMN!" The redhead swore, causing both Buttercup and Bubbles to stare at the studious girl. Blossom blinked, confused at their stares. "What?" After a moment of sucking on a bruised knuckle, the girl swore some more, then snapped her fingers.  
  
"That's it!"  
  
"What's it?" Buttercup asked. She was in no mood for her ex-sister's 'technical babble'.  
  
"THAT's the reason Mojo Jojo wanted you brought along-" Blossom grinned towards Jade. "You learned martial arts, correct?"  
  
"Y-yeah, but what does that have to do with-"  
  
"Break the wall."  
  
"WHAT? After you and Bubbles tried, I don't think it's going to do any good-"  
  
"Just trust me," Blossom stated, her pink eyes aglow with what appeared to be excitement. "This HAS to be it- I can't think of any other reason that he'd make you come along." She took Jade's hands into her own, causing the braided maiden to blink with slight nervousness. "He probably took the Professor and made you come so that he can observe you in battle." She glanced downward at that assessment, but then looked back up into her comrade's green eyes.  
  
"Don't blame yourself. I'm assuming he wants to know more about you, and this is probably the only way he could coerce you out from the shadows- by using us to get to you."  
  
Buttercup stared down into those pink eyes, willing herself to believe Blossom. The girl's theory was sound, but Buttercup didn't quite believe it. There was something she couldn't put her finger on; something intangible about the reason that Mojo had demanded her presence as the price for Professor Utonium's release.  
  
However, those pleading eyes gave her all the more reason to want to believe in Blossom, and so she nodded energetically.  
  
"I'll try. I don't know why you think that I can break this wall when you and your sister can't, but... I'll try."  
  
With that, Buttercup let her hands slide out from Blossom's, and she turned to face her stone adversary. Closing her eyes, she drew on a memory; one from her last days at the monestary.  
  
"Jade," Brother Mark started, standing in front of his young pupil. He smiled down at the girl, who was standing in a ready stance, her eyes and face staring forward with what looked like a blank stare.  
  
Looked being the key term.  
  
Jade was actually practicing one of the most difficult observational techniques he knew and had taught to the girl. Most often, people would ignore the technique in their training just because they felt that it had no place in combat. However, as he often schooled to Jade, observation was one of the best qualities- especially if one wanted to learn new techniques from their instructor.  
  
"Yes?" the female alto voice answered back, her face still turned directly forward.  
  
"Jade, today I'm going to teach you something very- very dangerous, but I think you should be able to master it." He stumbled over the words as he said them. He didn't want to tip off his pupil that he knew her real identity... or that the technique he was going to teach her, when added to her already existing abilities- could level a city block.  
  
"I understand," Jade responded, still staring ahead.  
  
Brother Peter took a deep breath before he diminished the distractions from around him through concentration. When he finished, he then pulled all his energy into a single point; his solar plexes, to be more precise. Facing his student, he nodded for her to stop observing and look at him directly.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I want you to punch me as hard as you can."  
  
Jade blinked. "But- but you know I can't punch as hard as you, or anyone els-"  
  
"Punch me with EVERYTHING you have, Jade. No holding back, this time. I mean it."  
  
Jade bit the bottom of her lip, uncertain. After a moment, she pulled her hand back towards her small hips and clenched it into a fist. Biting her teeth together to give her courage, Jade punched the man in the forementioned solar plexes as hard as she could- with all of her strength- including the long-unused Powerpuff strength that she'd abandoned.  
  
Brother Mark didn't even look phased.  
  
Jade Raven took a step back, her eyes wide. "H-how did you-"  
  
"A technique I like to call ki focusing," Brother Mark told her. "Now the way you saw me use it was for defensively, which is the harder of the two to learn. Today, we're going to start you on the first level of ki focusing, which is for offensive use."  
  
"O-offensive? But if you were able to block that attack defensively, then that means offensively you'd be able to..."  
  
"As I've often told you before, knowing the way of the Shio-lin is a very dangerous and difficult path to tread." He stared into her emerald eyes, knowing that she must have understood the implications that came with this knowledge. After a moment and five different expressions later, she nodded.  
  
"I understand."  
  
"Then I want you to focus all your physical, mental, and spiritual energies into a point on your body. Any point. Could be a fist, could be a foot. Something that you can attack with."  
  
Jade paused a moment before speaking. "Would my right hand do?"  
  
"That'd be fine," Brother Mark assured her.  
  
Intaking a deep breath, Jade closed her eyes and started to pull all her energy- her mental sharpness, her physical strength, and her spiritual center, into a point. Concentrating deeply, she moved that point towards her right hand, holding it out in front of her. She opened her eyes and looked at Brother Mark, her concentration still evident by the sweat on her brow.  
  
"Good. Now I don't expect you to get it perfect your first time-" he stated, although his inner thoughts betrayed his hopes for the girl to do otherwise, "but you shall start today." The monk pointed at a nearby trunk of wood that was wrapped with rope all around it. It had been an old training block of hers that she had used for kicks. "I want you to focus that energy from your hand into a fist. Then... I want you to punch that wood."  
  
"P-punch it?"  
  
"Yes. Attack it."  
  
"Okay," Jade answered, then ran forward towards the block. As she did, it seemed as though her right fist glowed with what looked like a green light, before she punched the still-intact training block.  
  
The block had been reduced to sawdust.  
  
Brother Mark had not explained that what she had done was technically impossible that day. for a normal human. Nor did he tell her that she'd managed to crack at least four of his ribs. It didn't matter, because all that mattered was seeing that wide grin she wore on her face whenever she'd accomplished what he'd set her to do. She didn't need to know that all the monks there now knew her secret. All she needed to know was that she'd made her master tremendously proud that day.  
  
That was all that had really mattered.  
  
Buttercup stood in front of the wall, staring at it with open eyes. According to what she knew of her own abilities from the past, Bubbles and Blossom should've had no problem destroying the slab of metal. Something reeked unnatural, but the young woman just couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
However, none of that mattered now. All that mattered was that her former sisters get their father back... and that she get out of here. Heaven alone knew how scared she was at this point... she still had no real idea as to why Mojo had demanded her presence in order for Utonium to be released.  
  
Nodding to both the Powerpuffs, she walked over to the wall and stood straight ahead, ready, as she'd done those years before. Closing her eyes, she drew on the energies she had in her body at that point, calming her nerves with her focusing. A few years had passed since the date when she'd learned the technique, and so the power welling up behind her focus point was enormous.  
  
When she'd finished pulling up her reserves, she opened her eyes and started to run directly towards the wall. Whenever she pressed her fore and middle knuckles against the metal, the metal seemed to almost 'kick back', as if it were made of something tougher than a diamond. However, Buttercup's will was greater than that of the metal, and she pressed harder into it. She did not notice the slightly green glow that surrounded her briefly as she finally broke through the wall, smashing it to pieces.  
  
"Got- got it," she heaved for a moment towards the Powerpuffs, who followed her into the smoky haze of the newly-rennovated lair. Buttercup shielded her eyes, unsure of what could be coming.  
  
As she took a step forward, something hissed up her side. The dust finally started to settle, and she turned towards the charge, certain that some 'toy' of Mojo's awaited her. When the cloud disappated, however, it was another, quite bloody sight, that met her eyes.  
  
"BROTHER MARK!"  
  
bows humbly to readers I sincerely apologize for the delay on this chapter. I worked over 40 hour work weeks this summer to make ends meet for college, and so I didn't really have much time for anything besides work and sleep. I do have plans to have this fic done before December (already working on the next chapter as we speak... er, type, whatever... .;;) so please stay tuned!  
  
And as always, please R&R! 


	13. Flailing Images

A/N: Well, hopefully this'll be up quicker than my previous chapters. :D In any case, this fic is finally shaping up to be completely finished and (possibly) the sequel's on the way. In any case, I know the last chapter left a few people hanging, so I'll shut up and continue to type.  
  
(Extra Note: Thanks to Shadow-chan for Beta-ing for me! . You rawk!)

* * *

"Jade-" a quiet male voice called from the bloody pulp that could barely be identified as Brother Mark. Buttercup kneeled next to the body and noticed the red and bleeding stripes of whipping marks that were strewn against his back. Her emerald eyes then noticed the bindings that clearly had kept his hands and feet from protecting himself, and tears stung in her eyes.  
  
Finally she gave into the pain, and she lifted him up against herself, hugging him close.  
  
"Brother Mark..." she cried. "Master..." She turned his head towards hers, and had to bite her lip when she saw the slash marks and bruises that adorned his body.  
  
"Jade- he knows-" the man whispered, his voice hoarse. Buttercup's eyes grew wide.  
  
"But-"  
  
"He knows what? Who is that?" Blossom asked the girl, kneeling by Jade.  
  
"Nothing," Buttercup wept. "He..." she paused, as she looked into his eyes, that told her all she needed to know about his chances of living, "he is my Master- the one who taught me."  
  
"He- found the monestary- tried to take Brother Peter and Issac-" he took a deep breath. "Held them back as long as I could- but-"  
  
"Shh," Buttercup told the older man, wrapping her arms around him, knowing what he must have done. "You don't have to talk-"  
  
A hand gently pressed her green-clad shouder, and Buttercup winced before looking down at her Shao-lin Master. "Knew- this was- my time," he breathed, and gave the girl a small grin even as blood trickled out from his mouth. "Was happy- to do this." He then took his hand and pressed it against the side of his former pupil's face, gently stroking the few wayward black bangs that hung down. He then glanced at the other girls that accompanied her, and smiled gently.  
  
"Was happy- to have you- as a pupil," he proudly stated, then his eyes grew wide as what seemed like a greater power seemed to pull him away from his chest. "He- KNOWS-" Suddenly his last word ended in a soft cough, and the man's eyes became wild, no soul possessing their movements. Buttercup let out a deep wail, and nearly crushed the man's remains as she clutched him heartbreakingly close to herself.  
  
"MASTER!" Buttercup screamed into the nearby air, her tears warm on her shaking cheeks. Blossom and Bubbles took a step back from the grieving young woman, a mixture of horror and pity on their faces.  
  
Buttercup felt as though someone had let loose a sword upon her heart, as so much of her spirit cried out to the man who had taught her all she had known about fighting. After a few moments, however, a touch on her shoulder alerted her to the fact that she was not yet alone.  
  
"Jade...?"  
  
The black-braided girl turned to face Blossom, her eyes still streaming with tears. "Yes?"  
  
"We- we have to go," the redhead told the villigante in a calm voice, although it seemed to Buttercup that the young woman was shaking.  
  
"Go?" she asked Blossom. "But- how can I go on? HOW?" She laid Brother Mark onto the ground, her hands beginning to clench. "He taught me everything I know- and he held off Mojo... and he's dead!" The girl stood up and picked Blossom up by the shoulders. "He's DEAD, don't you UNDERSTAND?"  
  
"Better than you know," Blossom whispered down to Jade, her own eyes turning to slits. "...if we don't go to Mojo soon," she hissed, "then OUR father," she glanced towards a nearly teary-eyed Bubbles, "will be dead." She picked up Jade's hands off her shoulders and threw them back towards the teen. "And if that happens because of you- I will not- I WILL NOT hesitate to kill you."  
  
Buttercup's eyes widened at the girl's threat. "You're kidding me. And I'm supposed to just forget about the man that was like a father to ME?"  
  
"You're a hero, aren't you? Then stand up and come back to save the day, like we've had to do so many times. Or are you really just a poser superhero who's out for the fame and glory?" Blossom sneered.  
  
Buttercup nearly snapped at that comment, both her hands clenching tightly. "I am NOT in it for the fame and glory, I do it because-" she stopped, her emerald eyes growing wide. "I do it because-"  
  
'Because something in you needs to', something in the back of her mind told whispered. 'Because it's what you were meant to do', another voice whispered. 'Just as you were meant to be Buttercup Utoniu-'  
  
"NO!" she yelled at Blossom, who jumped back, startled by the girl's sudden response. "I do NOT do it for the fame and glory. I do it because I-" she looked down, then stared Blossom directly in the eyes. "I CHOOSE TO!"  
  
The pink-eyed young woman clearly looked abashed for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Yeah?" she sarcastically asked, "Well, at least we HAVE a father to save!" As soon as she said it, she regretted it, clamping her hands over her mouth. Buttercup's anger boiled over, and she jumped into the air, ready to go at it with Blossom.  
  
"The both of you, SHUT UP!" Bubbles screeched, placing her hands on her ears. "NO MORE FIGHTING!"  
  
Blossom and Jade stared each other down for a moment, as though they were willing to go against the blonde's wishes. However, after a moment to steady their hot tempers, the two lowered themselves to the ground, standing before Bubbles with what looked like expressions of shame, although there was a great deal of sadness still in Jade's.  
  
"Fine," the black-haired girl broke into the silence. "We'll go after your father. But-" she stopped, and stared directly at Blossom, "do not belittle anything that has to do with my Master after this, or else I will finish what I started."  
  
After a moment of a strong stare, Blossom nodded curtly. "Fine."  
  
The triad nodded at each other, then faced their surroundings, three pairs of eyes searching the walls as to a way that they could save the Professor. Blossom peered at the nearby wall, searching.  
  
"I still don't understand how you could break that wall when Bubbles and I couldn't."  
  
"Maybe we can ask Mojo after he's in jail," Bubbles gloated, a slight violent streak in her eyes that Buttercup did not miss, even though she was observing her surroundings just as Brother Mark had taught her long ago. The room was almost cyllindrical in shape, a few doors surrounding them. However, it was not the ordinary that they were searching for, but the extraordinairy. Mojo was no idiot.  
  
Just then, the blonde pointed at something on the ceiling.  
  
"Look! That bit of the metal up there-" she gestured towards the gleaming bit of stone. Blossom nodded, and rose towards the top, Jade following with slight hesitance in her expression. Bubbles jumped from the ground towards the top, then nodded. "I was right. This is some sort of secret doorway- we could get in this way undetected."  
  
"You sure that he didn't just... plant this?" Jade queried. "It seems too obvious to me."  
  
"Good point," Blossom said, "but I think, under the circumstances, that he wouldn't have planned this to a T. Grabbing the Professor without us finding out sooner had to have put him into a rush."  
  
"...okay," Jade said, her green eyes not moving from the metallic ceiling tile. Blossom nodded to Bubbles, and the blue-eyed girl concentrated on the piece of metal until her eyes turned a deep crimson, a laser birthing itself from her irises. The metal started to melt underneath the heat of her gaze.  
  
Blossom watched, her own pink eyes just as cautious due to Saint Raven's paranoia, which seemed to be catching. As Bubbles continued to eat away at the metal, her eyes began to widen. Underneath the tile, there was what appeared to be an intricate work of twisted wires and attached metal tanks. The redhead opened her mouth to warn Bubbles to stop firing-  
  
And found herself flung downwards onto the floor, a force like a that of an oncoming train slamming itself into the young woman's body. With a weak glance, Blossom saw the ground coming and readied herself to crash into the floor, only to feel a hand desperately trying to hold onto her arm. Blinking, she saw Jade, half of her outer gi burned, reaching for her. Bubbles lay in her other arm, with what looked like burns around her eyes-  
  
"BUBBLES!"  
  
"She's all right! Grab on to me!" Jade hissed, and the young woman obeyed. Jade stopped mid-air for a moment, then gently lowered herself and her dual baggage to the ground. Blossom let go as soon as possible and ran towards her sister.  
  
"Bubbles! Bubbles, are you okay? Bubbles, talk to me!"  
  
Jade hissed at the sight of the young woman's face. What looked like chemical burns were red and angrily hissing about her eyes. Blossom picked up Bubbles' head and cradled it in her arms.  
  
"Bubbles?"  
  
A loud cough assurred the young woman that her sister was alive, and Blossom wept for joy. She then clenched her teeth. "Bubbles, are you okay?"  
  
"I can't open my eyes," she responded weakly. "They- they hurt too much."  
  
"Hold still," Blossom ordered, and she very delicately laid her sister on the ground. After a moment of concentration, she proceeded to caulderize the wounds with her laser vision, removing what was left of what appeared to be an acid away from her sister's eyes. Bubbles squinted tightly before opening her eyes, albeit very carefully. Jade looked horrified by the sight of the girl's now scabbed face.  
  
"What- what was that stuff?" she asked Blossom, who was now examining the leftover bits of the chemical left behind.  
  
"Anti-Chemical X," The redhead sighed. "Good thing I burnt it away when I did..." she turned and looked at Bubbles. "Can you see?"  
  
"Yes," she assured Blossom. "But my eyes feel... weird."  
  
"Your laser vision's probably been neutralized," she said, and swore loudly. "Why the hell didn't I see this coming?" She glanced up at Jade. "How did you know?"  
  
"I didn't," she assured Blossom. "I'm just very paranoid by trade."  
  
"That's correct," a gravelly voice suddenly called out in the middle of the room. Blossom, Bubbles, and Jade searched for the location of the voice's origin, but to no avail. Laughter bounced off the walls and around them.  
  
"Keep looking, girls, for you will not find me. I am well hidden, and unfindable," the voice hissed. Blossom swore again, earning her a strange look from Bubbles.  
  
"Where the hell are you, Mojo? Where's the Professor?"  
  
"Ah-ah-ah," the voice seemed to admonish. "First things first. I need to make sure you've brought Saint Raven."  
  
"We need to make sure you have our father!" Bubbles yelled at the incorpreal voice.  
  
A pause followed, and after a moment of what sounded like scuffling, a sequence of groans went out from the noise projecter. Finally, a familiar voice started to speak.  
  
"Girls- I- Mojo-"  
  
"Professor!" "Dad!" The two Powerpuffs yelled, Bubbles' voice coming out with a slight pained strain to its melodic sound. Buttercup stared at the floor, her heart tight in her chest.  
  
"Girls- you're safe, thank God.. Mojo, he's-"  
  
The familiar voice then cracked, and was replaced by the primate's scratchy one.  
  
"As you can see, I have your," he spat in between his accentuation, "DARLING Professor. Now show me that you have Saint Raven."  
  
"I'm right here, you idiot," Jade saucily responded to the disembodied voice. "Now why don't you come down here so I can kick your sorry ass for all you've done."  
  
Blossom's jaw set as she looked at the girl, a bit frightened at the level of anger residing in those emerald eyes.  
  
"You've made a right mess out of these girls' lives, their father's life, and now you've proceeded to drag ME into this." She gestured to the Utoniums, then grit her teeth. "You killed him- you bastard, you killed the only Master I ever had- I loved him! Him and the rest of my fathers at the monestary-how many did you kill, Mojo?"  
  
It was then that her left hand automatically went for the staff still unused but attached to her back via the sling given to her. Her fingers itched to pull it from its holder, sweatbeads forming at her fingertips.  
  
"HOW MANY, MOJO?" She yelled.  
  
A laugh filled the room, its echoes bouncing off the walls.  
  
"HOW MANY, YOU ASSHOLE? ANSWER ME!" Buttercup's voice became shrill. She jumped up into the air, pulling her staff from its confines and holding it before her.  
  
Mojo's laughter grew in volume, then settled down to a small chuckle after a few seconds.  
  
"Enough to make you want to kill me, little one. Little JADE RAVEN," he said, then laughed with glee. "What a name that is, isn't it? Jade, then Raven. One might almost say that it was too perfect a name for you, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"Stop it." Buttercup swore. "Where the hell are you?"  
  
He continued. "After all, Jade is just another word for green, isn't it? And Raven? Raven's just another term for black- black and green, green and black. Too perfect. And I don't believe Raven's that common a surname, is it, little one?"  
  
"Stop fooling around, Mojo!" Blossom yelled. "Where are you and the Professor?"  
  
"Around somewhere- somewhere that is around this area, in this place that we are in," he cackled. "But you shall have to be quick, speedy, or fast, if you are to find us. You only have twenty minutes left to save your darling father."  
  
"You piece of shi-" Blossom started, only to be cut off. It was then that something caught Bubbles' eye, and she gave her twin a small nudge to the side with her elbow. The redhead looked down slightly for a minute, wincing at her sister's scabbed face, until she saw that her blue eyes were motioning towards a specific location on the wall.  
  
A large black dome sat on its side. With a quick nod to her sister, Blossom kept talking as Bubbles slowly made her way away from her sibling towards the plastic dome.  
  
"You know what, Mojo? You're nothing but a piece of trash that won't stay thrown away!" she continued, keeping her eyes moving so that Mojo didn't suspect their plan.  
  
Bubbles moved away from her sister's side by crawling, until she was far enough away from the bubble that she could try and get Jade's attention, the teen still standing in mid-air with her staff held in front of her.  
  
"Psst!" she hissed at the floating superheroine. Jade continued to stare at the walls surrounding her, angry as hell at Mojo.  
  
"PSST!" Bubbles hissed again, only this time it got the girl's attention. Saint Raven broke from her reverie, but not using direct body language. With a quick 'snap' that almost felt audible, her green eyes cast themselves down towards the blonde.  
  
Bubbles sighed with relief at being able to get her attention, then snapped back to business. She gestured towards the large bubble in the wall, then pointed at Jade's staff. The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow, obviously confused, and the blonde sighed. She'd have to see if- she didn't think it would work, but she had to try.  
  
Closing her eyes, Bubbles tried to mentally 'send' a message the way she sometimes did with Blossom- the girl might not be able to respond, but she could at least send the details.  
  
The Professor had discovered about five years ago that the twins were starting to see images of other places and things that they weren't experiencing. Unsure of what to tell them, the Professor did some research and ran some tests. What he'd found had been short of amazing.  
  
Both Blossom and Bubbles seemed to have created a singular mindset- an almost telepathic link that they hadn't even realized had been forming over the years. Utonium didn't tell the public this fact, but instead encouraged the girls to develop it privately. By doing so, anything having to deal with stealth had been outrageously easier- the girls hadn't had to explain what was around them to the other, but instead sent it through mind-pictures.  
  
However, since it was a skill that probably would have unnerved most people, the girls had been very careful to hide. However, in this instance, it was a gift that, if it by perchance worked in projecting, would make things much easier to explain to Jade.  
  
Concentrating, Bubbles sent an image of Jade floating in mid-air, then added to the image, making the pictorial Jade hit the black dome with her staff, causing the dome to break and reveal Mojo and the Professor behind it. Once she'd sent it, she opened her eyes to see if Jade had recieved the message.  
  
What she expected was the girl to look confused. What she didn't expect was to see the look of horror on her face as she stared at Bubbles.  
  
_'Jade?'_ Bubbles mindsent, trying to keep things simple. _'Jade, calm down. I'm talking to you through your mind. Did you get the image?'_  
  
_'Image...'_ Bubbles felt the thought in her own mind, and peered at Jade, whose composure seemed to be falling down around her. _'How- what- no- NO!'_  
  
Just then, a thousand images seemed to project themselves into Bubbles, and the young girl fell sharply against the wall she was leaning, as though she'd been winded. The strength and shock of having a link with someone besides Blossom flew through her just as the memories she was seeing.  
  
A young Jade, fighting with what looked like a slightly younger Brother Mark. Jade, reading a book aloud to what looked like an old man in brown robes. Jade yet again, this time laughing and baking what looked like a pie with a man who had green eyes.  
  
The memories tore into Bubbles, and she saw the pain and shock cross Jade's face, the girl clearly not able to place any sort of protection about her thoughts, projecting them by accident. It was as though Bubbles' psychic touch to the girl's mind had awoken some sort of power.  
  
The images kept on coming, although the pattern had worn to become Jade getting younger and younger, as shown by her shorter and shorter stature, as well as her smaller and more fragile hands. Bubbles tried to stop the images, but with no avail, as Jade was floating mid-air, a shell-shocked look upon her face.  
  
Blossom, knowing something was wrong, but not quite what, rose slowly into the air towards Jade, still spouting off insults towards Mojo. The redhaired girl glanced towards Bubbles, and sent a tendril of concern towards her, but it seemed that the girl was encompassed in something, her blue eyes so wide that more white than blue showed itself.  
  
"And you have no right to listen to your own thoughts of babbling-" she continued, finally reaching Jade. Once she had, she touched the girl's shoulder, although it looked like from her green and unfocused eyes that she was already gone. Blossom's eyebrows twitched, unsure of what exactly was going on.  
  
Bubbles, in the meantime, had moved down to the point of Jade's first memories at the monestary- her first kick, her first punch with Brother Mark, learning the basics of history with who she now recognized as Brother Issac. The memories kept going past, and Bubbles kept feeling the whole time as though there was something incredibly important that Jade had been trying to tell her, but that she was missing.  
  
The memory of her first coming to the monestary then kicked in, and Bubbles felt herself falling deeper into Jade's conciousness. It was then that she saw the green grass outside of the monestary, and felt herself falling back further into her memories.  
  
"NO!" Jade screamed, placing her hands defensively against her head. "NO!"  
  
Bubbles tried to pull herself out one last time, but to no avail as Jade's mind pulled her in even deeper. The black haired girl started to scream, and all insults stopped from Blossom to Mojo, as she instead tried to control the writhing Jade in her arms.  
  
It was then that Bubbles lost herself completely and passed out.

* * *

"Why doesn't anyone believe me?" A small voice asked in the middle of nowhere. Bubbles sat up, jolting awake.  
  
"Why doesn't anyone believe me?" the voice repeated, and Bubbles stood up shakily. She looked around her, and was confused by the lack of surroundings- no Jade, no Blossom, no Mojo- no Professor even.  
  
The walls about her where ashen gray, with no identifying marks with which she could tell them apart. The blonde felt as though her knees would give into the desparate gravity which seemed to envelope the place, and so she hobbled over to a nearby wall, leaning against it until she gathered her strength and stood up fully on her own. Blinking, she searched with her blue eyes for something- anything, distinguishing.  
  
"Why doesn't anyone-" the voice began again.  
  
"Who are you?" Bubbles yelled, tired by now of the melodramatic tone that kept calling. "Where is this place?"  
  
"Who... are you?" the voice asked again. "I don't know who you are."  
  
Bubbles placed her right leg back and her left forward, bracing herself. "I'm Bubbles Utonium! One of the Powerpuff Girls!"  
  
"Powerpuff..." the voice seemed to ponder this for a moment. "That sounds... familiar."  
  
"I fight crimes! I destroy evil!" Bubbles yelled again, looking around for the source of the voice, which seemed to be nearby. The voice didn't respond, so she tried again. "I have a sister, Blossom Utonium!"  
  
"Blossom." The voice repeated, although this time it came out with great malice behind its formed word.  
  
"That's right!" Bubbles stated, missing the angry tone. "Blossom Utonium! We fight crime in Townsville!" The teenager looked left, then right. The voice seemed to be originating from somewhere upwards of where she was. After a quick scan, she levitated herself off the ground, torwards the grayness of the ceiling.  
  
"Townsville," the voice repeated. "Powerpuff. Utonium. I know these things."  
  
"Who are you?" Bubbles called again. "Maybe I can help you!" Definately upward and to the right. She levitated that way. That damn voice sounded so familiar...  
  
"No one can help me," the voice sighed. "I can't go back, even though I've come back. You wouldn't want me to. Why doesn't anyone believe me?"  
  
"You can't go back, even though you've... come back?" Bubbles asked, more to herself than the voice. Something looked like it was sitting in the middle of the ceiling- a glass tube, it almost looked like. She flew closer. "I don't understand."  
  
"I ran away... no one believed me, so I ran away."  
  
Bubbles finally came across the tube that was hanging in the middle of the ceiling. Floating over to it, she stopped and hesitantly placed her hand on it. When she did, the ash gray seemed to wipe off like humidity on a glass, leaving behind a greenish glass behind in its wake. Blinking at this discovery, Bubbles hastened to use her laser eyes to remove the rest of the ash-colored substance, but when she tried, she stopped in horror to realize that she couldn't. Then it came to her-  
  
The Anti-Chemical X. She remembered now... the chemical had sprayed on her eyes, and Blossom had had to cut it off carefully. Placing her hands carefully on her face, she felt the scabs that had formed whenever she'd caulderized it, and realized just how close she'd come to losing her eyesight permanently. With a slight wince of mental recognition, tears began to form in her eyes.  
  
"You ran away?" Bubbles asked, irony in her voice. "I wish I could run away. Then I wouldn't have to be in danger all the time." She laughed. "You have no idea what it's like to have to put your life on the line every day for someone- most often, someone you don't even know."  
  
After a pause, the voice returned. "I know what it's like."  
  
Bubbles turned to the tube and pressed her hands against it. "You do?"  
  
"...I do," the voice answered, sighing as it did. "And I still do."  
  
"Still... who the heck are you?" Bubbles asked, growing quite irritated at this point. "You drag me in here, you pull me in-" suddenly the memories of what exactly had transpired before she'd awoken in here came back to her- memories of Jade's from growing up. Her blue eyes widened.  
  
"Wait..." she said, the anger starting to mound. "Wait." Bubbles began to clear off the outside of the tube, her suspicions growing the more of the ash condensation she cleared off. When she was done, she swore. "Jade. Jade, that's you, isn't it?"  
  
The tube was green in color, however transparent. Inside, a young woman laid vertically, her entire being seeming as though it were held in time-suspension, so few were her moves. Long black hair strung from her forehead, encircling her form. She had her arms wrapped around herself, and her legs curled about each other as well. Bubbles swore, then yelled again.  
  
"Jade Raven, answer me! Is that you or isn't that you?"  
  
Suddenly a pair of green eyes opened and stared into Bubbles', their slants showing clear rage behind their expression.  
  
"It is me," the voice continued, although Jade's mouth did not move. "How did you get in here? Get out. Get out now."  
  
"Not until you tell me what's going on."  
  
"Get OUT!" Jade yelled again, and a strong wind started to blow through the chambers. Bubbles held on through will alone, shaking her head.  
  
"Not until you tell me. What were you running away from? Who are you, Jade Raven?" Bubbles forced herself to hold onto the glass tube, making Jade's eyes widen with fear. Bubbles gritted her teeth. "TELL ME!"  
  
"NO!" Jade yelled, this time with her lips instead of her mind. Just then, something tried to escape the tube and fly into the wind, but Bubbles grabbed onto it before it escaped. Bubbles looked at the piece of paper she'd caught, then back into the tube.  
  
"This is it, isn't it? This is what you've been hiding!"  
  
"NO! DON'T-"  
  
Bubbles didn't understand until the piece of paper she'd been holding onto sucked her in.

* * *

"It'll be okay, Buttercup," a familiar voice told a young girl, holding her in his arms as he spoke. Bubbles blinked the eyes she felt herself behind. Suddenly Bubbles felt the body she was in begin to speak.  
  
"No it won't." A tear down the side of her cheek. _What the hell was going on?_ "I was helping her up and she fell. I must've done something wrong."  
  
The PAIN, the HORROR... Bubbles felt like weeping herself at the many painful emotions that she was feeling through this child.  
  
Then it hit Bubbles. This child- this child was-  
  
Just then another voice broke in, its face all too familiar as well. "That's right you did- I saw you. You must've used your heat vision on Miss Keane, didn't you? That's why she had such a fever."  
  
The outrage, the pain- the person that she was inside- how could she not have known about this?  
  
The person pulled away from the safety of the Professor's arms. "I did no such thing! Blossom is making it up, Professor!"  
  
A pause. "Did you use your heat vision, Buttercup?"  
  
_No. It- it couldn't..._ Bubbles felt herself falling into depths of despair that she hadn't known she'd felt before, and everything clicked into place. _Growing up in a monestary. No relatives. Black hair. Green eyes. Superpowers that couldn't really be explained in human terms. Pain and suffering. That feeling of hiding..._  
  
_No. It couldn't- But it was- it made sense. It was impossible, but it was true.  
_  
Jade Raven was her sister, Buttercup Utonium._ Jade... was Buttercup.  
_  
Before Bubbles felt herself black out again, she saw a vision of a familiar black-haired child screaming, tears streaming down her face as she desperately tried to claw away from shattered green glass in which she'd been hibernating previously.  
  
"NO!"

* * *

"YOU BASTARD!"  
  
Bubbles blinked from her daytime reverie, and saw that Blossom was fearlessly attacking the dome, her fists looking as though they'd been at a metal punching bag all day.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER AND JADE?" Blossom yelled once more, this time bleeding eminating from her hands. Bubbles blinked again, this time coming to herself enough to throw a psychic 'line' out to Blossom, which made the girl stop mid-punch. Glancing down, she saw Bubbles' concious form, and she flew down and hugged the blonde girl.  
  
"You're- you're okay," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I thought- you were-"  
  
"Huh? Wha- what happened? I was-"  
  
Blossom pulled away from the young girl and looked deep into her sister's blue eyes. "You- don't remember?"  
  
"Remember? That Jade is-" she trailed off, the revelation still a shock.  
  
"That Jade is what?" Blossom blinked, confused, then shook her head. "If you mean that Jade is passed out, yes. And that you were gone, too. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it knocked the two of you out, and I thought Mojo had done something-" she then shook her hands.  
  
"Nevermind. We have to hurry. I can't get that glass open for some reason, and I'm assuming it's because Mojo triggered it to only work for Jade. She, however, won't wake up."  
  
"What- what do you mean, triggered?"  
  
"Think about it, Bubbles. The wall wouldn't open for either of us. That means that it must be covered with Anti-Chemical X, which would negate our superpower strength. Since Jade's a normal human, that must be the reason that she's the only one who can open it."  
  
"But that doesn't make any sense-"  
  
"BUBBLES!" Blossom hissed, grabbing her shoulders and shaking the blonde. "Mojo stopped talking about a minute ago, and I don't know what's going on. We have about ten minutes left to save the Professor- you were both out for about five minutes, and-" she glanced towards Jade, "I don't know how to bring her out of it. She fell mid-air whenever- whatever happened, and I can't get her to wake up. If I can't get her to wake up, then I can't break that stupid dome and-"  
  
"Blossom," Bubbles said softly, and the redheaded girl calmed, the stress evident in her pink eyes. "Calm down. Where is she?"  
  
"Jade? She's right over here-" her sister pointed towards the nearly-lifeless body, who was strewn awkwardly on the ground. Her eyes slits, Bubbles rose from the ground and flew over to where the girl lay. With a gentle touch, the blonde smoothly brushed strands of black hair away from Jade's face and looked- really looked at her.  
  
Jade Raven. Buttercup Utonium. It wasn't that surprising, really, when one came to think about it. In fact, Bubbles wondered at how long it had taken her to realize. However... for poor Buttercup, it must have been a trial and a half to hide herself from them, especially from herself. But the fact that Buttercup hadn't been here, but had stayed where she was in the monestary... A slow mound of anger seethed in the back of Bubbles' throat, rage forming against her sister that she hadn't been around all those years, and hadn't even come clean whenever she'd returned.  
  
However, now was not the time to yell at the past or explore the pain of the present. Instead, it was time to find forgiveness for the future, and welcome her sister back into it.  
  
Pressing her fingers against Buttercup's forehead, she closed her eyes and willed herself into her sister's mind, searching for some way to bring her back to conciousness.

* * *

When she looked inside her mind once again, she saw chaos strewn about her, memories torn and slashed through by glass shards of the tube. Most of them looked as though a knife had sliced through them. Searching, she noticed that the memories made a pattern. Following them, she came to the inner part of Buttercup's mind.  
  
What she saw there was an all too familiar little girl in a green dress, crying as she cut apart paper memories with scissors. The memories did not want to be cut, as their material was made of something infinately stronger than paper. After a few tries and failure coming from this, the little girl threw the scissors away, promptly falling to the ground and weeping.  
  
All thoughts of anger seeped away as Bubbles approached the child and made her presence known. At first, the young girl warily shirked away from the young woman's approach, scared.  
  
"Shh...." she whispered. She held out her hand to the child, who continued to cry, but looked up at her.  
  
"It's okay. It's okay, Buttercup... I understand. Please. Don't make me lose you now when I've just found you. I still love you, just as I always have and I always will." Tears were streaming down her visage, making her face blotchy even in this mind-made world, just as they would in reality. "Please, Buttercup. Please trust me. I won't hurt you. I won't. I promise."  
  
The child sniffled for a moment, then grabbed Bubbles' hand and wept into her skirt, her tears making the fabric soaked, but her sister didn't care. Bubbles knelt down and hugged the girl, her own tears beginning to mingle with hers.  
  
After a few moments of this, the child began to sniffle and rub away at her eyes. Bubbles smiled as a set of green eyes stared back at her, although they appeared as red and worn as her own. She absent-mindedly stroked the short black hair she saw in front of her.  
  
"Feel better?"  
  
"I- I do," the girl whispered, and suddenly those wide green eyes slanted and wore themselves into a set that was older, wiser. After a moment, the fully grown Buttercup stood in front of her, still holding her hand. She looked down for a moment, then back up to her sister, her eyes hauntingly full of pain.  
  
"I do, but... are you sure? Don't you hate me?"  
  
Bubbles looked away for a moment, then intook a deep breath. "I did, for a long time. And I'm still a bit angry that you didn't tell us that it was you when you came back. But when I see how long you suffered..." She stopped and stared in her fully-grown sister's eyes, cupping her sister's face in her hands. "It doesn't seem significant. I love you, Buttercup- Jade, whatever your name is. You're still you. And you'll always be my sister. No matter what happens."  
  
Tears streamed down the black-haired girl's face, and without warning, she flew into her sister, hugging her. A green glow then surrounded the duo, who were both still crying, but still happy nevertheless.

* * *

Jade's eyes fluttered, and she blinked them once, then twice. It was when her focus returned that she saw Bubbles' smiling face looking down at her, as well as a much-relieved Blossom.  
  
"I- I'm back," she smiled.  
  
"Thank God," Blossom stated aloud, sighing. "I was so worried and you wouldn't come out of it- what the hell happened?"  
  
"She-" Jade started, nodding towards Bubbles, then stopped and seemed to reword her thoughts aloud. "-She touched my mind, and I didn't know how to react to it. But- I'm fine now, thanks to her. I guess it was just a shock." She gave Bubbles a pointed look, and the blonde smiled. Blossom breathed a sigh of relief, then snapped to attention.  
  
"Well, I'm glad that you're better, but if we're still going to save our father, we'll have to hurry."  
  
"Our father?" Jade asked, still not completely in the present.  
  
"The Professor!" Blossom answered through gritted teeth. "Since you've been out and since Bubbles had to come and get you- which I want to hear what the hell happened later, by the way, -time has been running out. There's only seven minutes left until Mojo kills the Professor!"  
  
"Then why haven't you gone after him already?" Jade asked. "All you had to do was break that dome..."  
  
Bubbles was about to answer when Blossom interrupted. "I can't. The dome seems to be keyed into you-only again, I'd assume. I don't know what Mojo wants with you, but he definately wants to make sure you're here. So you have to break that dome before we can get the Professor back."  
  
Buttercup stared at her blonde sister, confused for a moment, then serious. "I see. Where's it at?"  
  
"Up there-" Bubbles pointed, and Buttercup flew into the air towards the dome, and focused her energy the way Brother Mark had taught her, her mind focusing for a moment.  
  
_'I still have a 'I still have a sister who loves me, even after all this time.'_ Her eyes narrowed. _'And I still have a father. But if I don't hurry, the one who was like my father-'_ an image of Brother Mark flashed in her mind, _'His sacrifice will have been in vain.'_ Closing her eyes for a moment, she focused all her energies into her fist.  
  
_'For you, Brother Mark'  
_  
The martial artist slammed her strongest two knuckles into the glass, shattering it to pieces. Once Buttercup opened her eyes, she blinked in surprise to find only a camera and a microphone with a built in stereo were behind the dome.  
  
Jade swore underneath her breath, and the microphone crackled to life.  
  
"Oh? Found out that wasn't where we were, did you? How bright of you. And now... yes, now I can be certain that you do indeed have Saint Raven, the heroine, female hero with you." One of the monkey's insane cackles broke through the microphone. "Oh, but I guess you haven't found us yet. Oh well... Blossom was right, you only have about seven- oopsies, I guess you're down to six and a half minutes left to save your," he paused, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "DARLING Professor."  
  
"Why you-" Blossom started, flying wildly into the air, about to punch the living daylights out of the microphone, when Bubbles stopped her twin, snapping her fingers. With a gesture towards the microphone, and a psychic image of someone pulling on a rope, she nodded to her.  
  
Blossom stood stock-still for a moment, accepting her sister's plan, then grinning widely. She then got Jade's attention, being sure not to psychically link with the girl as her sister had. With an eyeglance towards the video camera, and a positive nod from Jade, she smiled.  
  
"What is it? What is it you are grinning about? Your precious Professor is about to die- what do you think you are-" Mojo's slightly panicked voice ran through the projector underneath the microphone.  
  
A loud crack rang through the air, and Bubbles let out a breath of air she wasn't even aware she'd been holding in. Jade held the video camera and microphone in her hands, although rather than them being ripped apart to shreds, she'd simply broken them into halves. Blossom heaved a sigh of relief.  
  
"Okay then, Bubbles. What exactly are we doing?"  
  
The blonde snapped her fingers. "We're pulling the chords directly from the wall and tracing them back to the source. If it's not where Mojo and Dad are, then it'll be to some control room where we can maybe buy Dad some more time." She looked at the other two.  
  
"However... I'm not sure this'll work."  
  
"There's only one way to find out," Blossom answered, smirking. Jumping into the air, she pointed at the two girls. "Bubbles- you take the video feed cable. Jade-" the black-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "You take the microphone cable. I'm going to see if I can't just get through this wall and see what's on the other side. Mojo might be playing us, for all we know."  
  
"Gotcha," Bubbles said, pulling the beginning of the video cable out from the back of the instrument, then throwing the camera down onto the cable below. With a great yank, she pulled the rubber-coated chord out horizontally, causing the cement wall in which it was hidden to fall do the ground like powder. She gave Blossom a thumbs up, and nodded torwards Jade, who seemed to have her thoughts elsewhere.  
  
"Let's go," she said, and flew off, in search for her father.

* * *

WHEW! LONG CHAPTER there... oh well. Hope it was worth it! About 2/3 more chapters to go- I haven't decided, and it'll depend on how long these last two chapters are- still have a few things in store. Please R&R, and I'll make sure to update as soon as I can. :D 


	14. Fighting Murder

A/N: WHEW! Sorry this wasn't out October 31st (was hoping for a Halloween treat!) but things kept me so busy that I wasn't able to upload it until today.  
  
In any case, I have 1 (!!) more chapters to go (epilogue before I move onto Sapphire Vision in the new year) so enjoy what I have! Oh, and please, R/R! :D  
  
WARNING: This chapter DOES contain some blood and violence. This chapter, and the language, are the main reasons the fic has been boosted to PG-13. You have been warned.

* * *

"Damn connections..." Bubbles swore as she continued to pull the chord from the wall. The task seemed like it was taking forever, even though she'd only been zipping through Mojo's tower compound for only about thirty seconds.  
  
Her father's time was running short, and the blonde didn't know what she'd do if she didn't find him soon and kick Mojo's ass for kidnapping him. And other things. That monkey was in for a rude awakening when she found him. When, and not if.  
  
For one thing, she was certain that the only reason Mojo wanted 'Jade', who she now knew was actually Buttercup, was to somehow coerce or make her do his bidding- which wouldn't have worked, but still. It was doubly cruel to threaten her recently-returned sister by kidnapping the Professor.  
  
As she'd once read, 'an elephant on a tightrope will certainly make the rope break'. And if she'd been correct in her assumptions from her sister's memories... that rope was near the breaking point.  
  
Bubbles had no idea that things had been that bad when they'd been children- what she'd felt in Jade- damn it- Buttercup's- mind had shown just how hurt and painful her life had seemed to her when they'd still been together. The memories still felt raw in her mind, and Bubbles cursed the fact that she'd found out now, rather than during a time of calm. Current issues were not making this news any easier.  
  
In any case, all she could do at this point was try and find the puppetmaster behind the strings- Bubbles was outright furious with Mojo at this point; although it wasn't as if she hadn't been before. Their father being kidnapped... no supervillian had ever, EVER sunk that low. That alone was a statement for how desperate Mojo was.  
  
And if there was one thing that Bubbles had learned about fighting villians after this point in time, it was that it was a bad idea to corn anyone who was desparate.  
  
Especially a villian.  
  
Blossom continued to pound away at the walls, breaking the bricks as she came across them. Bubbles and Jade had been sent to search out the audio and video feeds, but she was quite unsure if either one of them would find the Professor.  
  
Mojo... darned monkey.  
  
None of the rooms Blossom had found had any sign of having been used, or for that matter, even connected to Mojo's lair. Normal warehouses or stockrooms seemed to be all that inhabited the stronghold. It was really beginning to irritate the redhead.  
  
"Stupid, idiotic, subprimate..." she hissed, breaking through another wall. Looking about her, she smiled. Good. Weapons. At least she was getting nearby.  
  
The walls were riddled with numerous metallic shapes, all filled with what appeared to be warheads and ammunition. Blossom flew up and inspected one of the nearby shapes, touching it with her bare hand. After a moment, she lifted her hand and looked at the palm.  
  
"No dust. He must have been in here recently," Blossom analyzed, looking about the walls. She floated over to another one, proceeding to test her theory. She nodded. "No dust here either." Glancing around, she noticed a cupboard sitting above a short desk. Drifting downward, she landed on her toes, then ran to the furniture.  
  
Blasting the lock that sat on the handles with her supervision, she burst open the door and widened her eyes in horror.  
  
Five, no... six, beakers full of thick red liquid sat on the shelves. Marked 'Anti-Chemical X', it was obvious what their use was. However, that was not what frightened Blossom. What worried her the most was the fact that there were about ten other glasses sitting there, marked the same.  
  
Her mind was chaotic with worry; Bubbles was still out there searching. Blossom slitted her eyes and sent out a link to Bubbles. After a millisecond's time, the answer echoed back through her mind that her sister had no luck finding the Professor either. This only made it more imperative that they find him soon.  
  
There were only six minutes left.

* * *

Buttercup's eyebeams tore through the walls as she pulled the wire out from behind it. She knew time was getting slim, and it showed through the sweat that beaded alongside the side of her brow. Her green eyes were slitted, and she concentrated hard on her task.  
  
She hadn't used her eyebeams for a decade; it had surprised her that they still worked. Bubbles' intrusion in her mind had apparently re-awoken the latent channels to that power, and Buttercup would be damned if she didn't use every resource she had at the moment.  
  
'Darn it, another corner.'  
  
The raven-haired girl stopped and turned in mid-air, catching herself on one of the walls by the balls of her feet. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the next action. With a quick thrust, she twisted and pushed herself towards the bend of the wall down another corridor, the microphone cable still held in her right hand.  
  
The entire process took less than a microsecond. Her dark green robes fluttered behind her as she ran into her flight path, causing a familiar trail to pass behind her. Opening her eyes, she began the break-and-pull process once more.  
  
'There can't be much chord left,' she thought to herself as she continued to fly, thankful for about the millionth time that she braided her hair and didn't leave it loose like other girls. It was just then that Buttercup stopped utilizing her eyebeams, as she felt the chord tighten in her hands. There wasn't much slack left; that meant that there wasn't much distance left- at least, she hoped.  
  
With an incredible amount of will, both physical and mental, Buttercup placed her heels against the wall. Her speed finally slowed once she had plowed through the last five feet of braced walls. Quick as a wink, she jumped away and realigned herself with the ground so that she was no longer parallel with the wall.  
  
Closing her eyes, she sent out a link towards Bubbles.  
  
'Anything?'  
  
An image of a very disgruntled blonde met her conciousness, with an equally strong 'no' in its message. Then, the girl cocked her head to the side as she followed her feed chord, pausing for a moment before she added to the message.  
  
'Blossom says nothing her way either.'  
  
'Damn.' Buttercup tried to figure out how to tell Bubbles that her line had run short, then snapped her fingers.  
  
'Line's out. Going in to check,' she sent. A few moments later, an 'okay' acknowledged her message. A line seemed to ride in the back of Buttercup's mind, its color a cooling blue. Buttercup thanked God himself that Bubbles knew this 'psychic' thing, because she certainly didn't have the hang of it.  
  
Buttercup ushered a quick prayer to up high before she landed on the ground. The microphone feed chord had led up to this area, and the doorway seemed to indicate that its other connection end was plugged inside the room.  
  
Doing a few mental calculations, the teen estimated that there had to be about fifteen feet left on the chord, according to how tight the chord seemed to be. If it was in a room, that could only mean two things- one, it was connected to the other side of the room, which is where Mojo would be if- and a big if on that one- he was still broadcasting. Two, it could be right near the door.  
  
Then there was the most probable three, which stated that Mojo wouldn't even be there.  
  
Buttercup closed her eyes and pulled both her hands into fists. She didn't like this situation at all, but it was better to enter it with some preparation than none at all.  
  
'Time to go.'  
  
The black-haired heroine jumped into the air and placed both her fists before her, splintering the steel door that was an unfortunate obstacle in her way. Upon entering, she somersaulted in the air before landing on the floor, searching the newly-plunged in darkness for any signs of life.  
  
A loud clapping noise caught her attention, and Buttercup turned to face a shadowed figure that sat upon a tall seat. Two hands encased in gloves moved up and down, mechanically clapping for her entrance. Buttercup's eyes turned to slits.  
  
"Mojo."  
  
"Welcome, Saint Raven. Shall we let the games begin?"

* * *

Bubbles swore on her non-existant mother's fictitious grave that she was going to wring Mojo for having designed such a chaotic and un-navigational lair. Mazes were one thing; she and Blossom had engaged in battle within those confines before. Mazes she didn't mind.  
  
Mojo's lair just made no plain sense.  
  
It was just then that the girl began to smile- the amount of cable she had was becoming taunt, signifying that there was not much more distance between herself and... whatever lay on the end of the feed. Jade- no, not Jade, Buttercup, she reminded herself for what seemed like the upteenth time, had already reached the end of her chord.  
  
Selfishly, she hoped that she, Bubbles, found Mojo first. That stupid primate was owed a very large comeuppance, and she wanted to be the one to dote out the punishment upon him.  
  
Finally. The last couple of feet. Bubbles grinned, then pulled out the rest of the chord from the wall, causing the plaster to cryptically fall in paper-like shards. Raising an eyebrow at how easily the task seemed accomplished, the blonde Powerpuff reviewed her surroundings.  
  
The chord seemed to lead straight into the wall- no nearby doors. Whatever that cable was linked to was in an enclosed room that could only be accessed from elsewhere. Bubbles licked her lips. This had to be it. Mojo had to be on the other side of that doorway.  
  
With a quick boost from lifting off the floor, the Powerpuff broke through the walls by placing her fists in front of her, causing the walls to completely disintigrate behind her. Stopping mid-air, she calculated her strategy from what she had found behind the walls.  
  
A disappointment. No signs of Mojo or her Father greeted her upon looking at the surrounding area. Bubbles let loose a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.  
  
'Dang it... Well, might as well see what I have to work with... I pray Blossom or Buttercup finds him...'  
  
Around the blonde seemed to be all sorts of technical equipment. Televisions, Microphones... all sorts of technological toys hung about the place, and not in any unspecified order, either. That's when it dawned on Bubbles exactly what this room was.  
  
'A control room... this is the control room to Mojo's lair... Using this, I can find out where Dad is!'  
  
With a determined expression, she set herself upon tuning the equipment so that the visual outputs would show where exactly her father was. She let Blossom know what she'd found, the reflex of reporting to her sister still as natural as ever.  
  
At the moment, all they read was 'five minutes'.

* * *

If Blossom were a gambler, she would have said that luck was definately not a lady tonight.  
  
More like a beast, in her opinion.  
  
Every single wall, corner, and nearby crevice that she could find seemed to bear no sort of fruit that she could pinpoint. Bubbles, it seemed, was having more luck than she was- the blonde had found the control room- and as for Jade, well...  
  
Well, she didn't exactly want to touch Jade's mind if what had happened last time was any indication of what touching a normal human's mind would do to that person- she'd be defenseless to Mojo's traps. And even though Blossom still found the girl annoying and too rash for her liking, no ally deserved to be defenseless in the face of an enemy.  
  
She broke down another wall with her bare fists, and took into account the surveyed damage.  
  
Her right-most knuckle on her left hand was bleeding pretty badly, as well as the middle knuckle. Whatever these walls were made of, it certainly wasn't normal wood and plaster. Normally she could just zip through walls as though they weren't even there. However, with all she'd been seeing lately, she had to wonder if Mojo had sprayed some random walls with Anti-Chemical X. Certainly those walls they'd fought against earlier had to have been completely immersed in them.  
  
If only she'd trained without using her powers. Then she might have been able to take them on.  
  
Instead, she found herself childishly pulling a grunt-and-punch technique on her straight-standing opponents, with no results for her actions. Blossom stopped in mid-air, intaking a deep breath. Everything she seemed to do lately was rash and emotional- very unlike the usual strategizing young woman she tried to be.  
  
If she couldn't find anything, the best option at the moment was to join Bubbles and help her in the control room. Not that she didn't trust her blonde sister to be able to handle the system, but she knew that two against one were better odds than one on one.  
  
With a non-verbal communication and a pause to figure out her location, Blossom fixed her pink eyes below her, then summersaulted so that she could fly through the groundwork, then upward through the walls. If there was anything she could do, she would do it now.  
  
For the Profess-for her father's sake.

* * *

"I've been waiting for you, Saint Raven," Mojo purred, sounding like a cat whose whiskers were laiden with rich cream. Buttercup's eyes turned to slits.  
  
"Tell me what you want, Mojo," she said, her words cutting straight to the heart of the matter.  
  
"Oh, you're not patient, are you?" he asked, standing up from his seat and walking over to where she stood. With a gloved hand, he reached out and touched the trail end of her robes, holding them to his nose and smelling them. "Not patient, nor willing to wait."  
  
"Where's Utonium?" Buttercup asked, nervous about how... possessive he seemed to be acting around her. When he didn't move, she took a step back, falling into a familiar backstance; the act removed her robes from his ape hands.  
  
Mojo looked to the side for one moment, then back up at her, his eyes slitted and calculating. "Why should you care about him, Saint Raven? He means nothing to you. Or... does he?"  
  
"Cut the bullshit. I know you know," she spat, and resisted the urge to slap him across the floor with the back of her hand. Tears threatened to well at the thought, but she fought it with an icy edge to her voice instead. "Brother Mark told me already."  
  
"Ah... so the little girl grows up," Mojo stated, walking back to the chair. He laughed and glanced at the clock, then picked up a metal tube and clicked it. Suddenly a clock nearby stopped, and he gave Buttercup a sly grin. "So. How did it feel, to feel that life drain from your hands?"  
  
Buttercup closed her eyes and bit her teeth together, glancing downward, but not trying to show the lone tear that trailed down her face. She sniffed, wiped away the wet disgrace, and glared at him.  
  
"It felt horrible, you sick... thing," she spat. "I can't even call you a man- you're not a man. And you're too weak to be a beast," she added. Mojo smiled.  
  
"I've been called many things," he said, and pressed another button on his chair. A glass of wine came from the side of his chair. With a green hand, he picked it up and sipped the red liquid before setting it down and staring straight into the set of emerald eyes that looked into his. "But none of them would be as sweet to hear as what you just said."  
  
"Why did you do this?" Buttercup asked, clenching her hands into fists.  
  
"Why? Do I really need a reason?" he asked, then pressed another button on the side of his chair. A wall that could now be seen as fake rose from the floor, revealing a cage that held a body inside. Upon close inspection, one could see that whomever the person was, they were still alive, though barely. He smiled.  
  
"I just wanted to give you a good welcome back party, Butter-"  
  
"Don't say that name!" Buttercup yelled, then softened. "That's not who I am."  
  
"Oh, whether you believe it or not, it is who you are," Mojo stated, then looked as though he was pondering something. "Because, if it is not who you are... then who are you, little green-eyed child? A hero?" he laughed. "You'll never be a hero. You'll just be a viligante from now on- and with no family to return to-" Buttercup's eyes widened.  
  
"Wait- what do you mean no family-"  
  
"Oh, didn't Brother Mark tell you?" Mojo grinned. "He couldn't save them all."  
  
Buttercup fell to her knees. "Then..."  
  
"The one, I believe his name was 'Issac', if I recall correctly, told me that God would use you as His hand to pull Justice from me for my deeds." He laughed. "You know, monks look funny after they've been hit with a laser beam. It almost brings the word, 'holy' to another meaning entirely-" he wickedly smiled. "as you know, the terms 'holey' and 'holy'..."  
  
Buttercup's lower lip began to twitch uncontrollably, her throat tightening. "You... You're a MONSTER!" she yelled, her eyes filled with tears. Looking around her, she punched the ground, trying to turn the despair she felt into anger. Mojo grinned.  
  
"That's right, little girl. Feel the anger run through your veins; the anger that I have felt for nearly fifteen years because of you and your sisters meddling ways- How do you think it felt," he said, rising and striding to where she sat on her knees,"HOW do you think it felt to know that you were defeated by three CHILDREN? How could you imagine the PAIN, the SUFFERING?" He growled, his eyes almost as red as the rage slowly building in Buttercup. He chuckled.  
  
"And HOW could you know how terrible it is to be thwarted at EVERYTHING you do?" He glanced towards the cage. "To be REJECTED because you are not the best creation; that something better has been forged?" The body seemed to move, groaning noises escaping.  
  
He leaned next to Buttercup's ear, his sharp teeth glinting. "How does it FEEL to be UNLOVED?"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Buttercup yelled, rising into the air and placing her hands over her ears. An emerald glow seemed to surround her, and she opened her eyes to daggardly stare at Mojo.  
  
"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" she screamed. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO I AM!"  
  
Mojo grinned, turning his head towards the cage, where a set of eyes were draggardly open. "And neither does he."  
  
Buttercup's entire body seemed to shake, the ice in her veins turning to fire as everything- Brother Mark, Issac, Peter, the monestary, her childhood, running away, sparring, instruction, being unloved- everything started to build up on her, making her mind drive itself in circles. She glanced up at Mojo, and the monkey grinned when he saw the red clouds forming around those green irises.  
  
"Yes," he smiled. "That's what I want to see."

* * *

Bubbles paced back and forth in the control station in worry. From the monitors, she could see that whatever Mojo was telling Buttercup, it wasn't good. The girl was already on her knees, and from what she could see, she was well on her way to losing her sanity.  
  
Blossom was supposed to be here any second- she only hoped that she'd get here fast enough. The countdown clock had stopped- due to Buttercup's entrance, she had assumed. It made her feel better, knowing that whatever was linked to the Professor's life- and she had past experience to think that Mojo had probably hooked up her father to some sort of time-triggered device- was turned off, if at least for the moment. It bought she and Blossom more time to save him.  
  
Just then, a loud crack caught her ear, and Bubbles turned to see Blossom fly through the wall and land with both feet on the floor. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Bubbles.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"She found him-" Bubbles pointed towards the monitor, "And she stopped the clock. I've been waiting for you until we go in as backup... or whatever."  
  
Blossom looked at the screen in which she saw Jade, and her eyes became wide. "He's... he's killing her." Gripping the sides of the television, Blossom squinted, trying to make the image more clear in her own eyes. "...what... that cloud around her eyes- it's almost like-"  
  
"We'd better get down there," Bubbles answered, placing her hands into fists. "There's no time. Whatever she did to stop the countdown probably won't last forever with... whatever he's doing," she said. Inside, she mentally scorned the ape-creature, her eyebrows angrily slanted.  
  
"Bubbles," Blossom said, continuing to stare at the screen. The blonde looked at her sister. "Mojo... has Anti-Chemical X. Loads of it. I'd wager he used most of it to strengthen the walls in his fortress, but I wouldn't put it past him to have some in hand for when we get there. Jade's safe, but-"  
  
"Wait... Anti-Chemical X... on the walls? You're certain?" Bubbles blinked in confusion.  
  
"Positive."  
  
"But then how-" Bubbles couldn't say it, knowing that she held Jade's identity in her heart and hands. Blossom assumed nothing of the girl's identity, but an explanation instead.  
  
"I was right- because she trained outside of having powers- I mean, obviously she's a normal human girl," Bubbles tried not to snort at the comment, "she was able to bust down those walls that we weren't." The redhead sighed. "We really should have thought of this before. Training using our superpowers is so natural... I never figured on Mojo or anyone else utilizing that against us in this manner.."  
  
"There's no time," Bubbles interjected her sister's scientific queries. "We have to get down there now. Not just for Dad's sake, but for Jade's-" She glanced back at the monitor, then towards Blossom. "The readers here say that the room they're in should be about..." she glanced at a chart nearby, glancing at the monitor once more before nodding, "a floor above and three doors down from where we're at."  
  
Blossom looked at both, confirmed her sister's evaluation, and nodded. "Well, then, let's go, shall we?"  
  
The two of them didn't even prepare, merely lifting off the floor at the speed of light- or the fastest they could manage to get to it, seeing as how Anti-Chemical X coated walls prevented their way.  
  
"Hold on, Jade..." Blossom said through gritted teeth, pounding at the ceiling with her fists.  
  
'Hold on, Buttercup...' Bubbles thought, her own mind filled with worry.

* * *

"So. You're angry with me," Mojo smiled. "That's good. That's very good, indeed. Now, then," he said, stepping aside to reveal the barely-concious body behind him, "I believe I should introduce you to the man you're here to save, shouldn't I?"  
  
"...where... girls...?" a hoarse whisper asked Jade. The red smoke about her eyes vanished, and she blinked at the lump of flesh that laid inside its container, its eyes bloodshot and hands recently hurt.  
  
"They're- they're coming-" she whispered back, blinking. Her heart was aching for some reason... she knew who he was, and knew that he wouldn't know her... but somewhere, deep inside, she'd thought that he might... had hoped that he might know her. Jade faked a smile.  
  
"They'll be here soon."  
  
"...know you..?"  
  
"My name's Jade Ra-"  
  
"Ah-ah-ah," Mojo laughed. "That's not your name, is it, little woman?" Jade set her jaw.  
  
"Don't you dare do this," she hissed. She glanced down at her former creator and gave an encouraging grin. "The girls will be here soon." With a last look at him, she turned back towards Mojo, pushing off with her knees from the ground.  
  
"You... You psychotic freak of nature," Jade growled. "What reason- what RIGHT did you have to do what you did to him? If he doesn't get help soon-"  
  
"That's what the hour was for," Mojo preened. He then feigned surprise. "But oh... you turned the timer off. Guess he has less time than you thought he did, hmm? Maybe he'll die soon, quick as a candle, or the blink of an eye."  
  
Jade's fingers hungered for her staff, and she quickly reached for it, slipping it out of the holders she had on her back and into her two awaiting hands. Her green eyes were slits.  
  
"You're... you're going to pay, Mojo," she promised him. The monkey smiled.  
  
"Oh. Really? I don't think I am. I think, instead, that THEY-" he nodded towards the doorway, where Buttercup saw what looked like wind forming nearby, "are going to pay." He smiled and pulled what looked like a canister from underneath his cape. Inside was a dark liquid that Buttercup would have been fey to have forgotten.  
  
"Anti-Chemical... X..." she whispered, then glared at Mojo. The Professor blinked inside his prison. "You wouldn't-"  
  
"Jade!" she heard Blossom scream from the hallway, and that decided her.  
  
With a quick movement of her wrists, the staff rotated in her arms. Turning them towards her right side, she shifted the beam into a low strike against his middle. Just as she was about to hit, she found her staff countered by a pair of knives. Glancing down, she saw Mojo holding a double pair of sai in his own two fists.  
  
"Thought it'd be easy, hmm?"  
  
Just then, Bubbles and Blossom flew in, levitating in the air. Their eyes widened when they saw her and Mojo's weapons interlaced, and Blossom's forehead knitted with anger before she flew towards the green monkey. With a quick switch, suddenly Mojo was holding one of the sai with one of his 'feet', and a controller in his left upper hand.  
  
"You don't want to do that, girl," he growled. "Or the Professor here really will die now."  
  
"What the-"  
  
"This is between her and I-" he smiled. "If I win, I shall conquer her mind and make her my own." Buttercup's eyes widened, and the primate snorted. "What? Did you think me simple, stupid, or an idiot? I can make you my own any time I wish! However-" he snarled, "It will not work if I cannot first conquer you physically. And to do that means I shall need no interference-" He dropped the controller, and pulled out the canister of Anti-Chemical X.  
  
"NO!" Jade yelled, trying to jump in front of the two, but to no avail. The two teens were splashed with the chemical, causing Bubbles and Blossom to fall to the ground, weakening. Jade blinked her green eyes  
  
"Jade, you can fight him-" Blossom cried. The black-haired girl glanced down at the redhead, whose pink eyes looked as though they were becoming void of intelligence. "Jade- the chemical- won't hurt you if you get hit- you're human-" The redhead tried to get up, but could only manage to pull herself to her knees. "The Professor-"  
  
"But-" Buttercup glanced at Bubbles, who seemed to be having a worse time, as she was curled into a fetal position. "But I-"  
  
"Jade-" Bubbles whimpered. Buttercup kneeled next down to the blonde, who grabbed her hand as though it were life itself to cling upon, "Jade- you must... you have to beat him. If you don't..." Suddenly, images of what Townsville, the country, and even the world would be like if the monster won and the girls were not able to protect the world came into Buttercup's mind. Tears streamed down her face. "If- if you don't..."  
  
Buttercup's rage mounted, and she turned her glare back towards Mojo. With a quick mental promise to Bubbles that she would indeed, take care of Mojo, she stood up and faced him squarely.  
  
Holding her staff in her left hand, Buttercup pulled on her belt with her right, untying it with a single maneuver. Throwing her braid to the side by moving her head, she disenrobed herself, revealing the dark green catsuit she wore underneath the cloaks given to her by the monks. Electric sparks appeared to course through the air, so charged was the circumstances as she glared at Mojo.  
  
"You. Hurt. Them," she said, a glance back towards her former sisters. "You. Killed. Them." Images of Brother Peter, Issac, and lastly Mark, ran through her vision, tears beginning to fall as her face contorted in rage. "And now..." she held her staff towards the monkey with her right arm, her elbow the balance point, "and now, YOU. Will. Die."  
  
Screaming, her mind and soul filled with the song of pure rage, she attacked him with a giant axe strike to the top, then turned to kick him in the face. Mojo countered with one of his sai, then swerved against the attack.  
  
With a swarm of under-heard curses, Buttercup forced her weight onto her back right heel and let her left leg fly, letting the staff scalp the behind of Mojo's legs, which he sommersaulted over. Twisting, Buttercup jumped forward with her right foot, springing off of it to flip over, swing to her left, and strike Mojo's left side.  
  
However, the monkey was already prepared, and Buttercup nearly fell to her knees in pain when she realized that he'd caught her by the braid. Breathing heavily, she tried to pull away without hurting herself, but screamed when she realized that Mojo held her braid quite firmly, and was slowly but surely attempting to get next to the nape of her neck. Within seconds, he was already attempting to make her submit her body to the floor by ripping the braid from her neck. Blood trickled down the side, spilling red onto her catsuit.  
  
"Fear is the mind-killer," Buttercup chanted to herself. Where had she heard that before? The book that Brother Issac had made her read, about the shaman on the desert planet. She braced herself against her knees, Mojo still trying to pull her down. Holding onto the staff with all her might, she finally got her feet beneath her, her heels up.  
  
"...fear is the mind-killer," she whispered to herself once more, unwilling but ready to accomplish what it took. "Fear is the mind-killer, fear is the mind-killer, fear is-" With a loud yell, Buttercup jumped into the air, pushing herself off the floor with all her might. When she blinked and glanced down, Mojo stood with a stunned looked on his face... large black braid in hand. Placing her right hand against the back of her neck, Buttercup held it before her to see the mixed blood and sweat dripping down off of her fingers.  
  
"Jade!" Bubbles cried, her blue eyes wide as she saw the blood drip down from her sister's fingers. The strength was returning to her limbs, although she knew from previous warnings if she didn't recieve some Chemical X soon... her superpower abilities would never return. With a large burst of adrenaline running through her veins, she pushed herself up by the arms to a kneeling position. Gritting her teeth, she let out a low yell as she pushed herself to her feet. She panted as she watched Blossom get to her feet.  
  
Blossom was more quick to rise; after all, she had not been the one sprayed in the eyes by the chemical prior. With a grunt, she stood up, cold sweat trickling down the side of her face. Exhaling, she planted her feet into a stance, then beckoned with her fingers towards a still-stunned Mojo.  
  
"Bubbles... get the Prof- get Dad," she corrected herself tiredly, "get him out of here. I'll... help Jade."  
  
"NO! You'll get yourself killed!" Buttercup screamed from her position in the air. Blossom snorted.  
  
"Fat... chance. You're not getting all... the action."  
  
"What is this?" Mojo huffed. "You two should not be standing up! There is no possible way that you and your sister should have been able to get up from the position in which you were! It is not probable, not scientifically able to be completed!" He threw the black braid to the ground, specks of blood splattering as it fell. Bubbles tiredly dragged herself towards the cage, only to hear a "STOP!" from Mojo.  
  
"Desist! Stop! DO NOT CONTINUE!" He yelled. Blossom noted that the genteel way of speaking was gone now, and his repetitive tic was back. He pointed at Jade, then stared at Blossom.  
  
"YOU! Powerpuff! Do you not recognize this girl with short hair?"  
  
Buttercup's eyes went wide as she realized exactly what she must have looked like- who she must have looked like, with her hair fallen to the sides; all purpose of being held into a braid gone for the moment. Fear overtook her senses, and she felt the gaze of Blossom as the young woman looked at her.  
  
Blossom looked at Jade, then raised an eyebrow at Mojo. "Yes. She goes to my school, actually," she sniffed. "Her last name's Raven, but I suppose you already knew that."  
  
"NO!" Mojo yelled, and he pointed his finger at Bubbles. "YOU! You must know who she is! She hurt you over ten years ago, do you remember? She ran away and-"  
  
Blossom laughed outright. Mojo's face became stricken as he watched the girl tear up, frustration, fear, and desperation in her tears as she laughed.  
  
"WHAT is so funny, may I ask?"  
  
"You- you think she's Buttercup?" Blossom began to giggle, then held her front with her right hand to keep herself from falling to the ground. "You- you honestly believe she's BUTTERCUP? My GOD, are you stupid!"  
  
"She IS Buttercup!" Mojo growled. "Can you not see it? The black hair, the green eyes, the affinity for weapons?" He asked, pointing at Jade's stick. The viligante's eyes were now wide as she glanced between Blossom and Mojo. The redhead had said that she hadn't believed it, but-  
  
"My God, you are a stupid, stupid monkey," Blossom laughed, and took a step forward, her tears nearly driving her into hysterics. "First, you kidnap our father... then you beat him shitless... THEN you hit us with Anti-Chemical X- which incidentally won't do you much good for long, so long as we have an antidote within an hour-" she paused, then giggled, "And you did this all... because you think Jade Raven... is Buttercup?"  
  
Mojo put his hands on his hips and grinned widely. "Yes. Yes I did."  
  
Blossom's tears began to to stop, and her laughter turned high-pitched. Her pink eyes became slanted and thin, their pupils small. Buttercup hovered in the air for a moment, then started to sway, the blood loss becoming greater. The monkey must have scalped her worse than she thought.  
  
"You- asshole." The redhaired Powerpuff took another step towards him, and Mojo started to back away. "You... did all this... and have the balls to say that you think SHE'S our sister?" She snorted, and stepped forward again. "Our father... may now die, and you bring up BUTTERCUP?" Blossom's eyes appeared to be blood red. "You- YOU-"  
  
Blossom started to weakly run forward, her hands in fists of rage. Mojo pulled out his sai to defend himself, but the redhead did not see the blades coming. Bubbles screamed.  
  
"BLOSSOM!"  
  
"...Blossom," Jade whispered, and closed her eyes as the weakness continued to settle in. Looking at the scene through what appeared to be fish-eye lenses, she blinked, then nodded to herself, gathering up her energy for one last strike.  
  
"YOU-WILL-DIE!!" Blossom yelled, inches away from Mojo. The Professor weakly called to his daughter, having seen what would now happen. Bubbles fell against the bars of the cage that held her father, tears already streaming down her face. Blossom ran forward, fist ready, while Mojo held out his sai knives, ready to thrust them into the girl's middle-  
  
But the knife never entered Blossom's body. Blinking confusedly, she instead found herself thrust out of the way by something, and fell to the floor.  
  
The Professor watched in horror as the girl who called herself Jade Raven instead took the knife, the sharp blade twisting into her solar plexes because of the trajectory she'd taken in order to push Blossom aside. His eyes widened as the last few minutes of Mojo's garbled mumbles began to translate themselves into words, and his eyes opened wide. Weakly, he stared at the falling body.  
  
"Bu-Buttercup?" he asked, then finally gave into his weak condition, passing out in his cage. Bubbles began to cry even harder, reaching inside the steel beams to hold her father's hand.  
  
Buttercup's fallen body lay on the ground, Blossom now trying to push herself upwards so that she could see Jade. Failing utterly, she scrunched forward enough so that she could see the teen's face.  
  
"You- why did you do that?" Blossom asked, tears coming to her eyes. "You didn't need to do that- I'm a Powerpuff- I'm supposed to save you-"  
  
"Had to do it," Buttercup smiled, feeling at peace for the first time in her life. She glanced up, and saw Mojo's eyes grow wide as he realized what he'd done, then turn to pure rage.  
  
"YOU LITTLE-" He yelled, then reached forward and pulled his other sai outward, obviously readying himself to kill off Blossom. "If I can't have you- If I can't control any of you, then- then-" He ran forward with his knife in hand.  
  
Blossom grinned at Jade as the villian started to close in. "...maybe in heaven, we can be sisters," she whispered to the black-haired girl as Jade's eyes began to close.  
  
With a smile, Buttercup nodded, letting herself fall into unconcious bliss as Mojo jumped above her, ready to stab Blossom through the heart-  
  
-when a loud gunshot rang through the air, causing the ape's body to twitch as he fell to the ground. Blossom's eyes blinked as she swiveled her weak head towards the area the gunshot had come from. When the smoke from the gun cleared, she saw a very pissed-off Ace Green standing before her.  
  
"Stupid-ass monkey-" he swore, then shot the chimp again when Mojo tried to get up and attack him. When Mojo appeared to groan again, Ace walked over and quickly pumped three more bullets into the creature. When the green-haired villian didn't move anymore, even from a kick to the side, Ace sighed.  
  
"Thank God..." he said, letting out a breath of air. Looking away from the corpse that Billy was now quickly taking care of, he glanced amid the ruins of what looked like a warzone. Blinking, he saw movement a few steps before him, and quickly ran to Blossom's side, the girl crying as she laid on the ground.  
  
He kneeled down and looked into her eyes, trying to get her to focus. "Blossom- are you okay? What happened?"  
  
The redhead coughed, then cleared her throat. "Fine- I'm- I'm fine... Bubbles and I will need an antidote, but once we get that, we'll be good." She swallowed. "Professor- needs medical care. Jade-" she started to cry, her right hand trying to touch the girl's non-moving left, "Jade... you have to help her... Mojo scalped the back of her head and- and she just took a knife meant for me-" she started to weep openly, and Ace glanced around himself worriedly.  
  
They'd made it in time to kill the bastard, but he hadn't expected a possible death out of this. Looking to where the Powerpuff had been trying to reach, he saw a very beautiful teenager, her black hair obviously cropped by means of ripping, as shown by the missing parts of the back of her head. A tri-bladed sai was stuck in her middle-chest area, right close to her heart. Ace swore.  
  
"SNAKE! Get an ambulance!" He surveyed the damage and corrected himself as his cohort went off to do his bidding. "Snake- WAIT! Get Two ambulances! And get me some Chemical X from the Professor's Lab!"  
  
The young man with the narrow face nodded quickly, then ran off to do as told. Ace sat down on the ground, his head in his hands.  
  
He'd known a while back that he should have never made a deal with the stupid monkey Mojo... but back then, it hadn't seemed a high cost for success and getting him and the boys off the street. But now...  
  
He gazed at the room, seeing the blood spilt on the ground.  
  
...now it seemed that he hadn't realized at all just how high the cost was. Two people possibly dead, and the city's superheroes quite possibly out permanently from their duties. Not long ago, he'd been right there with Mojo, hoping they dropped dead whenever they interfered with one of his underground dealings.  
  
Then he had realized just how low he'd sank whenever that stupid monkey had made that broadcast.  
  
Standing up, Ace Green sighed as he heard the sirens start to close in on Mojo's fortress. Coming clean was not going to be an easy process, but... it would certainly start to clear both his mind and his conscience that he was at least starting. He smiled ironically.  
  
How horrible the younger version of himself would have thought him- giving up all the empire he'd created from hurting others just so that he could sleep peacefully at night. But when he looked at that young girl with the black hair, he realized that maybe he was wrong.  
  
Maybe the young him had just needed a reason to go straight- if a girl like her had been around back then... maybe he would have.  
  
As Snake and Arturo crashed into the room, directing the medics to where the fallen ones were, he walked forward to the nearest police officer and held out his hands to him, wrists facing upwards.  
  
"Sir, I've got something to confess..."

* * *

DIES WHEW! That was QUITE a chapter. Epilogue coming up next, expect it in about two weeks... I think I'm going to need an icepack for when I go vote tomorrow... wow-ee my brain hurts.... 


	15. Future Remembered

A/N: WOW. IT'S COMPLETE. After over a year on this thing, I finally have finished it due to the fact that I actually buckled down and made myself. Hopefully this will meet all you lovely reader's standards- and to the one question I recieved via e-mail (more than once, and some with various comments attached): 

_'Why did you have Buttercup scalped?'_

I had two major reasons for that, number one being the obvious hair length issue that I wanted solved before the second installment, Sapphire Visions. The second was that I needed, unfortunately, the main character to be hurt in order to advance the story, and scalping was a very real experience for me that I could portray realistically.

In any case, here is the final chapter to Emerald Mirage. It's been one heck of a ride, and I hope you enjoyed it.

-Whitney

* * *

"..is she... is she waking up...?" A feminine voice broke into Buttercup's hearing. The young girl grunted, feeling a raw amount of what felt like hot glass against the back of her head before opening her green eyes. 

"Good, you're awake," a set of unfamiliar blue eyes smiled down at her. "We were wondering when you were going to wake up- you've been out for almost two days now, and for a while it was touch and go."

"...wha-?"

"Jade!"

Just then, another set of blue eyes, as well as a pair of pink and hazel, ran in, their matching blonde, red, and auburn hair swinging behind them. Judy tried to jump on the bed to greet her friend, but was only rewarded by a half-jump resulting in Buttercup wincing in pain as her leg was pushed aside.

"Jade!" Blossom smiled at the green-eyed girl, walking beside her, then ever so gently reached out to grab the dark-haired girl's hand. "We- we were so worried- they said you'd lost so much blood, and then it turned out you had type O blood..."

"Which I was more than happy to give," Bubbles added aloud. '_Because you're my sister_,' she said into Buttercup's mind, then added a mental chuckle. '_And because others would suspect if normal blood didn't work on you_.'

'_But-_' Buttercup fumbled to come up with a mental response to this, although she shook her head at Bubbles directly. "You didn't have to do that," she told the blonde, then raised an eyebrow as she spoke mentally.

'_Does... Does Blossom kno-_'

Bubbles looked away, for some reason, uncertain to look the black haired girl in the eyes.

"She's awake?" A male voice asked from the hallway. Suddenly, all three girls fell silent. Blossom looked over at Bubbles, Judy, then back towards Buttercup. The nurse with the blue eyes gasped in recognition of the guest outside, and excused herself with a nod to her patient.

"My... Our," the redhaired heroine corrected herself, looking at Bubbles, "father... would like to thank you. He told us to go wake him up whenever you were up, but I guess he found out some other way..." A set of pink eyes glanced at Bubbles quickly, but the blonde feigned innocence easily enough for her to believe it. Blossom cleared her throat.

"Anyways... he wants to thank you for... all you've done, and given-"

"Wait- what-" Suddenly Buttercup's eyes went wide and she gripped Blossom's hand tightly. "Brother Mark," she said clearly, the raw hurt still evident in her voice. Blossom looked uncomfortably pained until Jade squeezed her hand tightly.

"..yes?"

"Was he... was he taken care of?"

"We... had him buried," Professor Utonium answered instead of his daughter, having entered the room. The scientist was bandaged heavily, although it appeared he would be fine, as he seemed able to hobble around with a cane given to him. Behind him stood a woman, her eyes peering into Jade's as the Professor spoke.

Buttercup let go of Blossom's hand, and coughed, clearing her throat. "Did you... I mean, did anyone check on the monestary? Is anyone..." she trailed off, turning her head to her left on her pillow. As she did, a mountain of pain coursed through the back of her neck.

"Careful-" the black-haired man said, wincing as he saw Jade's face contort in pain. "They- the doctors said you injured the nape of your neck whenever you..." he winced, then shook his head. "I mean... we did send people up to the monestary, but it looks like..." He bit his lip. "I mean, we searched all over, and-"

"It's okay," Buttercup sighed. "I guess I shouldn't have expected there to be any of them still..." she trailed off, and looked downward with her eyes, careful not to move her body. She fought back tears that were forming, wincing as she closed her eyes to hold them in.

Professor Utonium glanced between his daughters and Judy and nodded, then back to the woman behind him. Although she seemed reluctant, the lady kissed him on the lips and stole away, followed by Blossom and Judy. Bubbles turned a minute to give her father a curious look, but left the room, shutting the door behind her.

The scientist paused for a moment before he hobbled over to a chair nearby to Jade's hospital bed. After a deep breath, he sat down, wincing as he did so, but obviously strong enough in spirit to give the black-haired girl a smile. Utonium placed his walking aide next to his seat, then sighed.

"Well."

Buttercup raised an eyebrow. The way that he sat was so... weak. It reminded her nothing of the man she'd once called her father, the way that his eyes were half-closed with tiredness or the way that his hair had apparently grayed.

The man chuckled, as though everything on his mind were too difficult to say aloud. "Well," he repeated, and sat there. It looked as though he were going to become a broken record until he continued. "I'll say this. You're one tough young woman. Not many would willingly have themselves scalped if it was between pain for themselves or pain for others."

Buttercup winced at the reminder, and started to weakly look up towards her forehead, until she felt a hand on her own.

Utonium shook his head. "Don't. Trust me. It's not... It'll look better once it's grown out," he settled on. Jade winced visibly, and he tried to cover up his previous statement.

"It's- it's not that it's horrible looking," he encouraged. "It's just that... well, it's a good thing you have black hair," he smiled. "Your scars won't show... unlike Bubbles'."

"Huh?" Jade blinked. This was news to her. "What do you-"

The man sighed. "We were able to get the twins the antidote in time- so that their powers wouldn't fade and they wouldn't- they wouldn't-" he coughed and continued, the thought of what might have been obviously affecting him emotionally, "But, I'm guessing you know what I mean," he supplied. "Their powers are fine- they're fine, as you've seen. But as for Bubbles- the antidote wasn't in time to save her laser vision," he added regretfully. "And I'm afraid... it has left scars."

"What do you- she looked fine when she came in here," Jade blinked.

"She was hiding it rather well, then," the Professor murmured sadly. "She has a stripe right through both her eyes- a long horizontal piece of skin that will always be slightly darker because of the spill."

"But I thought-"

"Deception," the man smiled unhappily. "A skill that I didn't teach them, but a skill they needed nonetheless." He looked sideways at Jade. "It's a skill I heard you have. It must be, if it took the girls that long to figure out who you really were."

Buttercup raised an eyebrow, both unsure and unliking where this conversation was going.

"In fact, one might almost say that you are the best at deception that there is," he said aloud. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, coughing.

"About ten years ago, I... lost a child."

Jade nodded. "The girls told me."

"Her name was Buttercup, and she was my third and most... violent of all my daughters. I never really understood why she was so gruff, back then- it almost seemed like she was angry without a reason," he said, looking off into the distance. "I just... when I look back on it... she wanted attention, I think, and that's why she was the way she was. So rough... because she felt unloved. So she closed herself off from her sisters and I... and I pretty much didn't notice because I didn't want to realize what I had done to her."

Even though the pain was great, Buttercup turned to look at the Professor, whose head was bowed down.

"...a long time ago, I made a mistake," he said. "And so... I tried to fix it too late. After she was gone, I- I made a radar machine that could detect the presence of Chemical X in a human being- or someone who was like a human. I wanted to know if she ever came back."

Buttercup's eyes widened.

"I... didn't detect anything for years," the Professor continued. "After a while, I gave up all hope. Then, a few days ago, I started to hear a beeping in the closet where I'd kept it. When I opened up the door, the instrument was going off. Someone had come into Townsville... someone who had Chemical X in their system."

"...and why are you telling me all this?" Jade asked.

"...because... I don't know why, to be precise," the Professor said, looking at her with a sideways glance. "Maybe... because I remember some things that I shouldn't, when something entirely new is in front of me."

Jade stared.

The Professor stood up, an ironic grin on his face. "Maybe... I know I'm not your father, Jade. I know I haven't raised you for the past ten years or so, whenever you were with those good men at the monestary-"

Jade opened her mouth as though to speak, but the gentle man broke her off.

"And don't listen to that one daughter of mine, Blossom. They WERE good men... some better than I. She does not fully understand... emotion. That's my fault, too. She identifies with me entirely too much, and has become as cold and calculating as the science I study." Looking at her with a face mixed with longing and withheld emotion, he gently reached out with his hand, as though to touch her face. However, he pulled his hand back and instead gave a heartbreaking grin.

"You saved my life, Jade Raven. And for that alone, I'm grateful. But I'm also grateful that you have lived, Jade Raven. Because... if for nothing else, my heart feels whole like it hasn't in a long time."

A genuine smile crossed his face, and Jade blinked, unsure if he meant what she was thinking.

"What-"

The man walked over to the door and opened it, giving her one last hard glance as he did.

"If you ever need anything- someone to talk to, someone to unload on-" he stopped himself and smiled. "I know I'm not Brother Mark or Issac, or any of the men you grew up with, but- I'm here."

With that, he left, leaving Jade behind in his wake, her mind a mess from stress, damage, and lack of rest. With everything overwhelming her, she fell asleep on her bed, her mind letting her rest for the moment.

* * *

'_Jade... Jade- Jade.'_

The black haired teen opened up her green eyes to see a somewhat familiar face in front of her. She blinked for a moment, then realized that she was no longer confined to her bed, but instead, floating in mid-air. With everything so euphoric, it occurred to her that this must be a dream. However... it was quite _insane_, even for a dream of hers.

Chalking it up to sleep-deprived lunacy, she was about to place her hands over her face when a hand covered her own, causing her to look at the face in front of her.

'_It's okay, Jade_,' the calming voice told her. She blinked, then turned a slight shade of pink when she realized that it was a handsome young man before her. He gave her a relaxed smile, then let go of her hand. '_It's okay.'_

"Who- who are you? Where am I?"

'_Well,'_ the young man smiled and tossed back what looked like a long braid of black hair, '_the first is easiest, although I'm pretty sure you don't know me by what I look like now, but what I looked like a few days ago.'_

Buttercup searched the depths of those eyes before her and gasped in recognition. That edge in his chin- those deep and soulful eyes- they could only be-

"Bro-Brother Mark?" she squeaked out.

'_I knew you were a bright one,'_ the young monk said, snapping his fingers and nodding. '_Yes, it's me... although I'm not... exactly how you remember me_.' He smiled. '_But as for your second question... let's just say someone allowed me to bring you here so that you wouldn't worry about us_.'

"Us?"

He took ahold of her hand. '_Brother Peter and Issac have already gone on, but She let me stay behind so that you would have some peace in your soul and heart before you go on with your life-'_

"But- I-" Buttercup fell against the young man's chest, crying. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you and the others- I realize... I was just pretending, at school. I thought I was okay without your and the others' guidance, but really, I was-" she dropped her forebrow, and her bangs fell forward. "I wasn't ready."

'_Nonsense_,' he mentally said, gently stroking her hair. '_You were as every bit as strong as you needed to be, and you have more than enough of that strength left over to continue_.'

"But- the monestary-"

Brother Mark looked to the side, then nodded. '_The monestary, yes. Well, it's good news, although it won't help the pain ebb away at first. Some_,' he started, and smiled when he saw the startled look in Buttercup's eyes, '_Some of the monks survived_.'

"You mean-"

'_Not many. Brothers James and Noah were out already that day, having been at the nun's parish, and the acolytes were away on a boys' choir trip_.' He smiled at her. '_Even though we're not here, the monestary will survive_.'

"But-" Jade sniffled, and pulled at the robes he was wearing, "that doesn't help me... What am I supposed to do? I can't- I can't tell him who I am, Brother Mark. I can't- but... part of me wants to."

'_And that's natural_,' Brother Mark said, stroking her hair absentmindedly. His head then tilted to the side slightly, as though he were listening to someone. After a moment, he gently pushed her away until she was floating by herself. He took her hand in both of his.

'_Jade- Buttercup_,' he smiled, '_Do not worry yourself about us. Most of the monestary has passed onto a greater and more beautiful place_.'

"What about you?"

'_I- was given another option, due to my past_,' he said with a smile. '_But don't worry yourself_.' He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, filling Buttercup with an inner peace and giving her a platform to stand on in her heart. '_Mine was chosen by me, and I feel I need it. Besides_,' he winked, '_we might meet again_.'

"What-" Buttercup watched as the young man started to walk into slowly forming clouds, and bit her lip. He turned back, and she shook her head, unable to say what she really was thinking. Instead, she blurted out, "What's your real name?"

He smiled and turned to face her fully before the clouds engulfed him.

"Tetsuo," he said, speaking verbally with a smile, then disappeared from her view. Jade looked up into the distance of wherever she was standing, tears streaming down her face, but not ones of pain. Instead, tears of joy were the ones that sloped down her cheeks. She stood like that for eons, then fell back into her somewhat unconcious slumber. When she awoke, she would only recall the dream as a distant memory, but feel at peace.

And that was all that he had wanted.

* * *

ONE YEAR LATER...

* * *

"No! I refuse to be- No!" 

Jade Raven, sophomore high schooler by day, and superhero viligante by night, laughed as her friends tried to wrestle her into a skirt for what seemed the upteenth time this week. Judy pouted as Jade skipped about the room, running from herself and Blossom, who had her hands on her hips.

"Honestly! We have to go to this scholarship dinner, and a set of pants will just not cut it!" she admonished the black-haired teenager.

The redhead wore her hair pushed back behind her ears, and was already dressed for the said event in a dark red business suit with white laced trim. Bubbles giggled behind her twin sister, her own form covered by a matching business suit and hair pinned up into two blonde buns. With the makeup she and Blossom had carefully applied, it was hard to tell that there was a scar that ran across both her eyes.

"Come on- they're wearing skirts," Judy pointed out. Jade snorted.

"Just because they like to fight crime wearing something -ungodly and constraining- does not mean that I have to," she countered. Bubbles rolled her eyes.

'_You'd do well to listen, or I'll tell them about that dress you said was, and I quote, 'so adorable_',' Bubbles mind-sent to the dark-haired teen. Jade raised an eyebrow in mid-pout, and sighed.

'_You play dirty_,' she told her sister mentally, while she responded with "I guess I have no choice in the matter, do I?" aloud. Judy smirked at the girl and threw over the dark black skirt she'd picked out for her roommate of almost two years.

"Get it on and get out there. The ceremony takes place in almost an hour, and you're not ready."

Buttercup grumbled but put on the undesired piece of clothing, muttering about 'stupid gender issues' and 'in the east' as she did so. The Powerpuffs and Judy waited as she dressed herself, then turned around to face them. Her expression was one of disgust, but after a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahhs', she gave a small smirk.

"I guess it'll do," she harrumphed. Bubbles giggled, then strode forward, turning to look at Judy as she took her own arm into Jade's.

"Are you going, too-?"

"Daddy'll be there," Judy said, rolling her eyes. "Apparently he wants to make sure that I'm getting his money's worth for coming here... and he said that he's giving the school a hefty grant, so of course he'd be there." Shaking her head, then waving the blonde, redhead, and raven haired girls off, she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll see you at the reception. Now get down there, before your own dad gets so worried that the baby gets upset," she teased, making Bubbles bite her lip and drag Jade against her will towards the convention center of the school.

"Blossom- Dad!"

"Slow-down-" Buttercup wheezed as Blossom laughed.

"Bubbles, we'll get there when we get there. Now do you mind slowing down, or will I have to tell the incoming freshmen exactly HOW you brought one of the scholarship recipients down in a coffin from apopolexy?"

"Um..." Bubbles glanced down at Jade, who had an eyebrow raised but was slowly intaking air because of the rest. Upon seeing the teen, she let go of her, allowing Jade to breathe normally.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I just-"

"Let's just get going," Jade grumbled, standing up and rubbing the back of her neck. The scars were still there from the fight with Mojo, but her hair had grown out long enough to go to her shoulders, covering all signs of the marks. She gave Blossom a conspiratory wink.

"Otherwise, I might be tempted to change into pants-"

"We're going, we're going," Blossom laughed and directed her twin and friend. Good Lord, this was going to be an interesting night...

* * *

"Are they here yet?" Professor Utonium asked his wife Diane nervously. She shook her head, not having seen either hide nor hair of the twins. The kindergarten teacher then gently shifted her newborn son into a different position in her arms. 

"I don't see them," the former Miss Keane told her husband. Just then, a flash of dark blue and ruby caught her eye, and she choked for a moment before nodding towards the incoming Powerpuff twins. "Wait- there they are!"

"Girls!" the man of science called to his teenage daughters. A doublet of blonde and red hair turned towards their fathers' voice, and in mere seconds, Bubbles forgot herself and ran towards the table where her father and step-mother were sat. Blossom followed at a more leisurely pace, her friend Jade strolling behind her.

"Dad! Diane!" Bubbles yelled, a bit of her old child-like personality showing through as she lunged forward and gave her father a tackled-hug. The older man caught his balance quickly and laughed, kissing his daughter's forehead. Bubbles then carefully moved onto her stepmom, being careful as to not jostle the babe in her arms.

"It's good to see you," Mrs. Utonium told her daughter, giving her a one-armed embrace. Blossom by that time had also joined the company, and was already giving her father a hug.

"Ooh! How old is he now?" Bubbles said of the baby, which she held out her hands to. Carefully, Diane placed the babe into his older sister's arms, making Bubbles blush with happiness.

"About a month and a half," his father said proudly. Blossom leaned over and looked at the child in her sister's arms, with an eyebrow raised.

"Profes-" she paused, intook a breath, and started again, "Dad, he has your chin."

The man of science tried not to laugh at his daughter's attempt at using a term of endearment towards him. "Yes, but have you noticed," he pointed out to his red-haired child, "that he has Diane's dimples?"

"Honey," Diane admonished her husband, then stopped speaking to smile at the newcomer.

Buttercup stood outside of their circle, the parents and children, watching as they all stopped admiring the newest addition to the family to welcome herself. She cleared her throat and scratched the back of her head nervously before biting her lip and making an awkward bow before the husband and wife.

"Congrat-Congratulations," she stuttered for a moment, then smiled. "On your son, I mean..." The Professor grinned genially.

"Would you like to see him?" Diane smiled, nodding to Bubbles to hand off the babe to the raven-haired girl. Buttercup panicked for a moment as she was handed the baby, never having dealt with a child before.

"Um..." She blinked down at the child in her arms, then gave a weak smile. Buttercup wasn't certain what to do with the little baby in her arms; and she showed this through the wet trickle of sweat that beaded down her forehead. "Hi- um... what did you say his name was again?" she glanced at the Professor.

"Alexander," the man stated proudly, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "We thought it was appropriate, since he's so obviously destined for greatness." Diane snorted visibly at her husband's words.

"I pity the day that boy comes home with a C in science," she teased.

Buttercup glanced down into the baby's eyes, and smiled, getting used to the idea of holding a child in her arms. As she smiled down at him, those eyes caught her, and she found herself drawn into them.

They were dark green, although there was an intelligence in them that made her shiver. She turned to the husband and wife.

"Where did he get the green eyes, if I may ask? It doesn't seem like either of you have green eyes-"

"We... honestly don't know," Diane shrugged. "We think it might be a recessive trait that's finally come to fruition in him." She smiled. "But in any case, they make him all the more handsome, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-yeah," Jade agreed, turning back to the baby. "Alexander..." she murmured, and stared into those eyes. Suddenly, something snapped in the back of her head, and she found herself not looking into a babe's eyes, but a young man's, who wore a gentle smile on his face.

'_Besides... we might meet again_.'

As her mind twisted around this revelation, she heard Bubbles and Blossom in the background, talking to their parents, even as her world seemed to spin around her.

"Marcus- that's so cute! Alexander Marcus Utonium!" Bubbles squealed, then watched as Diane took the baby back from Jade, whose eyes were wide with shock still. Blossom snorted.

"The poor kid's going to be teased to death. Pr-Dad, why'd you have to give him a middle name like 'Marcus'? That's just asking to be beat up, with Alexander as a first name- it's too long for one thing, and-"

"At least I didn't name him Alexander Brutus-"

"Dad, that's even worse! And it's Caesar, not Alexander!"

"Honestly, I swear it just came to me," Diane smiled, causing the twins and Jade to snap back to the present. "It just seemed to... fit."

Jade smiled and grinned, then drew her hand forward towards the babe. When she was close enough to touch him, she drew the mark of the ceremonial cross on his forehead, then smiled at Diane.

"It's a good name," she agreed. "A strong name."

Bubbles looked at her curiously, sending out a mental tendril of question, but Jade just grinned. Suddenly, a bell rang clearly through the auditorium, causing the Utoniums and she to turn and face the stage, where a man stood in front of a microphone, holding the said rang bell.

"Excuse me, but we need the scholarship recipients to report to the stage as the program is going to begin in five minutes."

"Well, we have to go," Bubbles said to her parents. She kissed her father and stepmother on the cheek while her sister gave them each a quick hug. Jade nodded to both of them, her eyes never leaving theirs, then followed the twins forward, leaving the couple and child alone.

Utonium pulled out a chair for his wife and son, then sat himself down. Diane glanced at him, then on the young women walking towards the stage. With a raised eyebrow, she looked at her husband.

"You know, with her hair cut that way, she almost looks like-"

"Don't bring it up," the Professor said with an ironic grin. "She isn't. Buttercup Utonium is gone, and we'll just have to accept that. Until the day she returns to us, we'll just have to enjoy the company of Jade Raven. That's all I can ask for."

Diane smiled and patted her husband's knee with her free arm, juggling Alexander in the other. "And that's all we need."

* * *

Buttercup smiled as she was served the dinner in front of her patrons and other childrens' families. She felt more at peace than she had in a long time, and it wasn't just due to the calm music in the background. 

Jade Raven, young apparent genius and martial artist by day, superhero by night, had finally found her center in the world she'd once inhabited long ago. She hadn't expected it to be as easy as it now seemed to be... although she knew in her heart that it had been a harder journey than she'd have liked.

If she'd have had her way, none of the pain and suffering that had occurred would have happened. She ate her food silently at the table with the twins, letting her eyes wash over the crowd of people below them. As she did, she had to smile.

Even if she hadn't returned as whom she'd been born, Jade Raven felt more at home here now than she'd ever been. She held her glass up towards the parents and other students in front of her, nodding as the President made some speech about scholarships and how important they were to their childrens' futures.

Glancing across the crowd, she saw the familiar faces of the Professor, his wife Diane, and a babe in her arms whom she knew better than to call Alexander. Beside her, she felt her sister Bubbles radiating calm outward, her own face betraying how nervous she was in front of all those watchful eyes.

Even though she'd lost so much... she'd gained a lot as well. Glancing at Bubbles, she gave her an encouraging smile, noticing just how much the blonde was hiding the scarring around her eyes; a lump of guilt rose in her throat, until she herself forced it away through the realization that she couldn't stop everything that went wrong- although she sure as heck could try.

Just as the audience started to clap in appreciation of the man's speech, a loud crash came from the back of the auditorium, making all the heads in presence swivel around to see what was going on. An oddly colored pink creature huffed from the back of the room, his pointed teeth bitten together in anger. He pointed a hairy finger towards the stage.

"You. Powerpuffs. I thought I told y'all that I would find you, after you done destroyed my last meat ray!"

Jade raised an eyebrow and looked at Blossom, who appeared slightly amused. The redhead gave Jade and Bubbles a significant glance.

"What is he talking about-?" Jade started, then laughed, her voice coming out a chuckle. Bubbles and Blossom stared in amazement as the dark-haired teen laughed until tears came out of her eyes. She stopped snickering for a moment and smiled at the twins, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Nevermind. I don't want to know." She grinned at Blossom.

"Shall we?"

The redhead grinned. "There's a curtain right over there- don't take long or we won't leave you any to fight," she smiled, and rose out of her seat, Bubbles on her left. Jade pushed back her seat and ran towards the side of the stage, smiling as she flew out the back towards her room, diving into the window and grabbing her remade robes, compliments of Judy.

Within seconds, she zoomed back towards the stage, twisting and moving her body instinctively, enjoying the moment of flying as she never had before. Blossom and Bubbles smiled as she arrived on the scene,both of them waiting for the dark-haired teen. With a single yell, all three of them jumping into the air, their colors streaming behind them.

* * *

The Professor watched as his girls jumped into battle again, fighting together for the first time in years. As he watched, a memory of three little five year olds doing the same superimposed themselves against Bubbles, Blossom and Jade. 

She had been gone, but now she had returned.

His precious emerald mirage.

* * *

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed with tips, including Hairy Gregory, Byrnstar, PinkPuff514, Song-Obsessed1, veronica155, BekllOBella, Ivygreen, cerebrus5550, The Wild Ambition, Lady-Dragon-Demon, and Zoe Rose. I'd also like to give a special thanks to Byrn and Shadow, who both helped me at various points in time with beta-reading (and many, MANY suggestions to make this a better story.) 

I'd also like to thank you, the readers, whether or not you reviewed. You were what kept me going, and I hope you'll enjoy Sapphire Visions as much as you enjoyed this one. Look for it in January!

LOVE AND PEACE!   
-Whitney


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